The Pureblood Princess
by Sirius-love1981
Summary: [Marauders Era] [Sirius Black x OC] [AU] Adelaide Fawley, a member of the sacred 28, was widely known as The Pureblood Princess. As the heiress to the Most Noble and Ancient House of Fawley, she grew up amongst the proud, noble, and prejudiced. She was raised to conform to the beliefs that contradicted every fiber of her being. She acted her part well. Too well.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1- Innocent Beginnings**

 _Adelaide Fawley, a member of the sacred 28, was widely known as The Pureblood Princess, a name she personally detested. As the heiress to the Most Nobel and Ancient House of Fawley, she grew up amongst the proud, noble, and prejudiced. She was raised to conform to the beliefs that contradicted every fiber of her being._

 _She acted her part well._

 _Too well._

 _She had everyone around her convinced that she was one of them. Well, almost everyone. There was one person that could see through her act, who saw past the mask she wore and into her very soul. One person who knew all too well the mask that she wore, for he himself had worn it many times. Sirius Black._

* * *

Growing up Adelaide was groomed to be nothing more or less than a lady of high society. She despised it. She hid her distaste well, but every so often her pristine persona cracked under the weight of her inner turmoil. It was on one such night that Sirius Black first noticed the young girl.

At just barely 11 years old, she stood in the hall to greet their _honored_ guests. She was dressed in beautiful floor-length emerald green silk gown, a symbolic reference to the house she was destined to join upon starting school in the upcoming weeks. Her long blonde, almost white, hair tumbled down in smooth loose curls. She stood in the wide marble atrium of the Fawley manner with a painted smile that gave the illusion of joy to the company around her.

No one could see the rage that burned deep within with every mention of 'mudbloods', 'blood traitors', or 'muggle filth'. No one noticed how her smile never quite reached her forest green eyes.

"Ah yes," sighed Walburga Black, "it is a shame that have outlawed muggle hunting Cathryn."

Walburga Black. She and her husband Orion were just as awful as her own parents, if that's even possible. Adelaide watched as Orion spoke harshly to the older of their two sons, Sirius, with his hand gripping his arm tightly. Regulus, the younger of the two boys, stood watching their interaction with a pained expression.

"Indeed. Although I imagine it won't hold up much longer," replied Mrs. Fawley with a cold laugh.

This last inhumane comment was enough to set Adelaide over the edge. Fury bubbled up within her. If she didn't leave soon she knew she would do something she regretted. She swiftly excused herself to the 'ladies room'. Once out of sight of the guests she chucked off her horribly uncomfortable shoes into a random hallway and continued to sprint to the garden.

Hot tears began to pour down her face. Out of anger? Sadness? Frustration? She didn't know. All she knew was that her carefully constructed mask was beginning to crumble. She realized that she wouldn't be able to fool them all forever. She couldn't.

She couldn't just sit and watch as those around her spewed their hateful ideals without second thought. However, she also couldn't deny that a part of her, a larger part than she was willing to admit, was afraid of what would happen when that day came; of what would happen when those closest to her knew where her loyalties truly lied.

Adelaide sat with her arms around her legs in the garden that had become her only safe haven. Whenever she would hear her parents going on and on about 'those filthy muggles', she would steal away to her personal secret garden.

She had got the idea from her favorite nanny, Ethel Weasley, who would read her a muggle book, The Secret Garden. Her parents never found out about the book, so they never questioned why Adelaide asked them for her own secret spot for her birthday that year. However, they did find out that Ethel had more 'rebellious views' about blood purity, so needless to say, she was soon asked to leave her post.

Although Ethel had only been her nanny for six months, she completely changed Adelaide's views on muggles, and in extension, her parents.

Sitting on the dirty ground, surrounded by beautiful luminescent flowers, she began to dry her tears with the hem of her long gown, feebly trying to regain her composure.

"Um excuse me, are you alright?" Said a voice. Adelaide looked up to see the boy whom she had seen earlier being scolded by his father. He was about the same age as her, had shaggy yet refined black curly hair, and grey eyes that bore into her with a striking amount of intensity.

She didn't trust her voice, so she merely nodded before hiding her tear stained face. She briefly wondered how he had found her in her secret place... the entrance was covered by ivy and difficult to find, even if you knew where you were going. He must have followed her.

The boy was not easily deterred. He crossed the garden path and sat next her in silence for a moment before saying, "you're lying."

He stayed there beside her in silence until she finally calmed down enough and was ready to re-enter the party within.

With a deep breath and some last minute adjustments, she and the boy stood up and walked back inside without a word.


	2. Chapter 2-Year 1

**Chapter 2 - Wrong**

Adelaide stood in the great hall in complete bewilderment. The sorting hat had to have made a mistake. There was no way that a Black could have been placed in Gryffindor!

In addition the utter shock that engulfed Adelaide as she watched the shaggy haired boy from the garden scurry into the den of Lions, was a glimmer of hope. A feeble light that she thought had been all but extinguished within her soul had been rekindled. If Sirius Black could defy tradition and expectation, maybe she could too. But it was a hollow hope, she was destined to live amongst the snakes.

"Fawley, Adelaide" called the stern woman standing at the front of hall her hair pulled back into a tight bun and her lips pressed together into a thin straight line.

Adelaide walked up to the hat in what could be interpreted as complete composure and confidence, no one would ever guess that she was fraught with nerves. The large tattered hat was placed upon her head and before she had time to react, before she had time to even take a breath, shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!" She didn't move. This is wrong. This is very wrong.

Her family would be furious. It was one thing to hope that she could be a Gryffindor in secret, but a whole other matter to actually go against her family's wishes. She was supposed to be a Slytherin. She was suppose to follow in the footsteps of her ancestors. This was all wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong...

The hat was taken off her head and she still sat looking up at the stern witch with pleading eyes. Adelaide hoped that maybe there had been a mistake. The woman's eyes softened and gently guided her towards the cheering table... towards the den of lions.

"Fancy seeing you here," said Sirius with a wide smile as she sat in the empty seat next to him.

"I could say the same to you," she replied. "You were right by the way."

Sirius looked back at her with a curious expression. "I was lying," she said.

The next morning was just as Adelaide and Sirius had expected. Terrible. They received a lovely matching pair of bright red smoking envelopes while eating their breakfast. The two looked at the Howlers and then to each other before darting our of the hall towards a nearby empty corridor.

"I'll go first, it's bound to be worse." Said Sirius, "my mother is very creative when it comes to insults."

Adelaide smiled softly and nodded for him to proceed.

"SIRIUS ORION BLACK THE THIRD. HOW DARE YOU. HOW DARE YOU GO TO GRYFFINDOR, THE HOUSE OF MUDBLOODS AND BLOOD TRAITORS!" the furious voice of walburga Black reverberated against the empty hall. "YOU HAVE DISGRACED THE FAMILY NAME! YOU ARE AN ABSOLUTE ABOMINATION TO YOUR BLOOD.." the insults rang on for several more minutes before the envelope burst into flames.

"Yes Sirius, she is quite the poet that mother of yours. Excellent use of the word 'putrid', ten points to Slytherin!" Said Adelaide. Where was this sarcasm coming from? Sirius looked over at her in disbelief with a small smile tugging at his lips.

Sirius had known the girl for years through their parents, but never really spoke to her, and certainly had never seen this side of her before. She was always so well put together. Painfully polite. Disgustingly distinguished. The perfect Pureblood Princess. She reminded him so much of his little brother Regulus. But the girl in front of him was so unlike the girl he thought he knew. He was fascinated.

"Well your turn then! I'm always curious to hear how other people berate their children. It becomes awfully tedious to hear the same types of scolding over and over." Said Sirius

Adelaide smiled and laughed silently before opening the now severely smoking letter with shaky hands.

"ADELAIDE ROSE FAWLEY! YOU HAVE THOROUGHLY BROKEN MINE AND YOUR FATHER HEARTS! YOU HAVE EMBARRASSED US, TARNISHED THE FAMILY LINE, AND HAVE SINGLE-HANDILY RUINED ANY CHANCE FOR A DECENT SUITOR! WE WILL.." Adelaide snorted at the last comment before pulling out her wand and setting the envelope on fire mid-sentence. She had no idea where this temperamental, rebellious streak was coming from. It was completely out of character for her. She was always calm, cool, collected, and composed. Except, it seems, when she was around Sirius.

"Nice touch," Sirius commented casually. "Although I personally would have loved to hear where she was going with that last bit," he said with a smirk.

"Ah, Yes it seems poor Mrs. Fawley will have quite the uphill battle arranging my marriage. Pity." She replied in mock concern.

"Ready to head back to breakfast?" Asked Sirius

"Sure,"


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3 - The Disgraced Duo**

After the Howler incident, Adelaide and Sirius quickly became the best of friends. They both found comfort in knowing that the other understood what they were going through, and genuinely enjoyed each others company.

As a result of her new friendship with Sirius, she also began spending quite a bit of time with his other friends as well; James Potter, a gangly boy with short black hair, hazel eyes and round glasses, Remus Lupin, a tall sandy haired boy with amber eyes and peculiar scars across his face, and Peter Pettigrew, a small boy with blue eyes and short straw colored hair.

With the boys, Adelaide discovered a brand new mischievous side to her that she never knew existed. Initially, she would help the boys here and there with various pranks, but soon they found she had a real knack for that sort of thing. By time December rolled around she was a full fledged member of their little pranking society they called The Marauders. Most of their schemes involved things like sneaking dung-bombs in the caretaker Filch's office, terrorizing his cat, or covertly hexing students whose egos needed to be taken down a notch.

It was nearly Christmas break one evening, and Sirius and Adelaide found themselves comfortably sprawled out on the common room floor by the fire while lazily practicing a few charms for class.

The other three trouble makers were busy serving detention for turning Filch's cat neon green. Sirius and Adelaide firmly believed that they should have chosen pink, and as a result stubbornly chose to not take part in the prank out of protest.

"Are you planning on going home for Christmas?" Asked Sirius while levitating a feather to tickle Adelaide on the ear.

"...well I suppose I could, they haven't expressly forbidden my presence.. yet.. but I think I'd much rather stay at the castle and save myself the trouble of disgracing the family name further." She said airily. "What about you?" She asked while making his ink pot sprout legs and do a sort of Irish jig.

"Well I wanted to go home.. just so I could l see Reg, you know.. but mum said that it would be best if I just stayed at the castle." Said Sirius who had now charmed her quill to dance alongside his ink pot.

"Well if you're stuck here I'm staying too. Us disappointments need to stick together!" she said with a wink.

"Ah yes the Disgraced Duo. Has a nice ring to it don't you think?"

"Music to my ears my dear Sirius! Music to my disgraceful ears." She said happily, before turning the conversation in a more serious direction. "So have you heard from Reg at all?" She asked, abandoning the charms practice completely.

"A bit at the beginning of school, but hardly at all anymore." He said in a low voice poking the still dancing feather absentmindedly.

"Do you think it would help if I wrote him too? Do you think he'd remember me?" She asked.

Regulus Black, was a year younger than his big brother Sirius. He had always been more reserved and less willing to rebel than Sirius. This caused some tension between the two brothers, but it didn't stifle the deep love that they shared for each other. Sirius was very worried that while he was away from home at school, Regulus would be indoctrinated into the Pureblood Mania ideals of his parents.. and Adelaide's.

"Oh he definitely remembers you." Sirius said firmly.

"Hmm care to elaborate?" She asked smirking.

"Ever since I told him we were best friends, he somehow always manages to bring you up in letters." He explained.

"Oh dear, sounds like little Reggie has a crush." Adelaide said smirking, and then laughing loudly at Sirius's disgusted expression.

"Oh come off it Addy." Sirius said gruffly.

"I'm just kidding," kind of she thought. "But now that I'm sure he won't be totally weirded out, I'll start writing to him too. Maybe we can keep him from falling into step with those blood purity tossers before you get back next summer."

Sirius looked a bit more hopeful. He was afraid to get his hopes up that his little brother wouldn't change while he was gone. That he would remain his best friend when he joined him at hogwarts the next year. He knew that Regulus was much more likely to follow the path set out for him by their parents and would, more likely then not, end up a Slytherin.

"You're welcome to try, but I don't really know how much good it will do.." mumbled Sirius.

 **AN:**

 **I just wanted to let y'all know that this story will not be strictly following cannon. I changed the timeline for some events like when they find out Remus is a werewolf and when they become animagi. I'm also going to change a bunch of other stuff down the road, so this is very much an AU story.**

 **You have been warned**

 **That's it for now!**

 **Have a lovely day!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4 - Meeting Moony**

Christmas Holidays had been lovely for Adelaide and Sirius. There were only a few other Gryffindors that stayed over break, so they had much more freedom to do what they wanted and sit wherever they pleased in the common room. However being the adventurous sort of children they were, they were not content to stay cooped up inside the common room all break.

Every evening they would explore the castle together, trying their best to avoid Filch. They found several secret passages (by accident) and even a secret room behind a one of the paintings on the third floor. They began taking note of where the passages were, the shortcuts they found, as well as other observations such as where peeves the poltergeist liked to lurk, and Filch's usual routes when doing his late night rounds.

They relayed all of these adventures and findings to the other boys when they returned after break. They were thrilled to hear that James had received an invisibility cloak from his parents for Christmas. This would make sneaking even easier.

"You know what would be cool?!" Said a rather pale and sickly looking Remus from his bed in the boys dorm. "If we made a map with all this stuff on it. We could even add to it as we find more passages and stuff!"

"REMMY YOU ARE A GENIUS!" Exclaimed James. Remus 'The Genius' smiled, blushing from the exuberant complement.

The five of them began work on what was dubbed "The Marauders Map" that evening. They decided that the map needed two things. Two things that would require, what was sure to be, rather advanced magic.

The first, was a way to protect the contents of the map from the prying eyes of others. Remus, Peter, and James were set with the task of researching the best methods for doing so.

The second, was a way to give certain information as needed, such as spells needed for entry to a passage, and to see where people were so as to avoid Filch as much as possible. This feat was tasked to Adelaide and Sirius.

One night soon after, Adelaide and Sirius borrowed Jame's invisibility cloak to go search the restricted section of the library for ways to charm the map. They were creeping through the castle when they passed by a window and saw two figures walking towards the Womping Willow.

"Good Godric! What are they doing?" Whispered Adelaide.

"I haven't the faintest... should we.." he began.

"Yes! Let's go!" She said.

The two ran quietly through the corridors and out to the grounds just in time to see a young boy walk into a tunnel under the violent tree, and Madam Pomfrey walk briskly back towards the castle.

"Why would she bring a student out here in the middle of the night?" Hissed Sirius.

Adelaide opened her mouth to answer when loud howl rang through the grounds from the direction of the tree. She gulped and pulled on Sirius's sleeve trying to get back to the castle. He was staring, unblinkingly at the tree, but eventually returned to reality and the two hustled back up to the common room, completely forgetting their original mission.

"We have to tell the others." Muttered an out of breath Sirius, earning a nod from Adelaide.

They made their way upstairs to find a sleeping James and Peter.. but no Remus.

"Where's Remus?" Adelaide asked in a whisper.

"He- he was here earlier.." Sirius trailed off. Suddenly he spun around to face the girl. "Y-you don't think he.."

"He couldn't! He couldn't be a-a..." werewolf.

They made their way back down to the empty common room and then set off to a window seat on the first floor that looked right out to the womping willow. This way they could avoid being werewolf snacks and get a good look at whoever it was that had been taken down to the tree earlier.

They waited, and waited, and waited, under the cloak. Each accidentally falling asleep at some point. It was nearly dawn and Sirius nudged a drooling Adelaide. "Hmm?" She hummed.

"I see something! Look!" He whisper shouted. Adelaide perked right up wiping the drool away with her sleeve.

They gasped as they caught sight of a lanky boy limping back to the castle aided by Madam Pomfrey.

"Is that who I think it is?" Adelaide asked.

"I think it is Addy." Sirius replied.

The two waited a few minutes before heading off to the hospital wing. They knocked and were greeted by a rather flustered Madam Pomfrey. "Hi Poppy!" Sirius greeted happily.

The woman rolled her eyes and said, "can I help you?"

"Er- Well we were just wondering if our friend was here." He said truthfully. "We didn't see him this morning and thought maybe he got sick in the night."

"And who is your friend?"

"Remus Lupin Ma'am." Adelaide replied politely. The healers eyes grew wide for a moment, but she quickly regained her composure.

"I'm afraid he is ill. He won't be having any visitors today. You should get back to your dormitories."

The two children shared a look. "Alright, well can you let him know we stopped by?" Sirius asked.

"And that we hope he feels better?" Added Adelaide.

Madam Pomfrey's eyes softened and she agreed before shooing the two away.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5 - Big Scary Sock Ironing Monster**

"You're telling me that Remus, Remus Lupin— the boy who irons his socks— is a big scary werewolf?" Chucked James in disbelief.

"Yes." Adelaide and Sirius said together.

"A-Are you sure?" Asked Peter.

"I mean we're pretty positive-" Said Sirius.

"But, we cant be sure until we've talked to him about it." Added Adelaide.

"Alright then, let's get this over with.." James shrugged as he headed out of the boy's dormitories.

It was breakfast time when the group of four made the hike over to the hospital wing. They knocked on the door, and were greeted once again, by a flustered Poppy.

"G'morning Poppy! Long time no see!" Said a cheery Sirius.

"Mr. Black, Miss Fawley, as I told you earlier Mr. Lupin is not in a fit state for visitors."

"Um- excuse me Madam Pomfrey," said James, "but I was just wondering if you could tell us what exactly he's ill with?"

"Yeah.. and if it's contagious.." Peter added hesitantly.

"Oh, he's just feeling a bit under the weather is all, but he needs rest and quiet."

"We can be quiet!" James said loudly. Everyone shot him a look. Adelaide rolled her eyes.

"We understand Madam Pomfrey, we'll just come back tomorrow." Said Adelaide. She whacked James upside the head the moment Madam Pomfrey had shut the doors. "You idiot!" She hissed.

The next morning, before heading off to breakfast, the four trotted back up to the hospital wing once again. They knocked on the door and were once again greeted by Mandam Pomfrey.

"He's at breakfast." She said in a tired voice as the precocious group of first years began to opened their mouths.

"Oh. Thanks Poppy!" Sirius said running off down the corridor with the others.

They soon found their illusive friend eating his breakfast of eggs and bacon in the Great Hall with Lily Evans.

"Remmy! How are you feeling?!" Exclaimed James.

"Oh, uh I'm fine now, thanks." He said looking visibly uncomfortable, not making eye contact. The others shared a look but didn't press the matter further... not yet anyway.

That evening, while lounging in the boys dormitory, Adelaide pulled Remus aside while he other boys played a very boisterous game of exploding snap.

"Remmy..." She said softly. "I think I know why you were in the hospital wing."

Remus's face drained of all color. "W-w-what are you talking about?" He asked, avoiding eye contact.

Adelaide put her hand on his arm. "Remmy. I know."

"I-I don't know what you're taking about." He said breathing quicker.

"I- I know your a werewolf." She said in almost a whisper.

Remus ran out of the dormitory.

"What the hell?!" Yelled Sirius as his friend sprinted out the door. "Addy! What happened?!"

"I-I told him I knew. And h-he just ran." She said guiltily.

The group shared a look and ran off in the direction of their lycanthropic best friend. They found him in a hidden room they had found behind a painting of some wizards having a birthday party. "Remmy!" Sirius exclaimed as he tried to catch his breath.

"D-do they all know?" He asked Adelaide, tears pooling in his eyes.

She nodded.

"I-I-I understand." Remus stuttered in a small voice. "I understand you don't want to be my friend anymore." The group looked very confused. "B-But please d-d-don't tell anyone." He pleaded.

"Why on Earth would we not want to be your friend anymore?!" James asked incredulously.

Now Remus looked confused. Perhaps they didn't understand. "Because I-I-I'm a-a monster." He said silent tears falling down his cheeks as he uttered the last word.

Sirius snorted. Adelaide gave a short laugh. Peter looked like he was trying to hide his amusement. But James was in laughing hysterics.

"A-Are you kidding me?!" He said between laughs. "You. Remus Lupin. A Monster?!"

Remus was taken aback by this reaction. "James, I'm a werewolf." He retorted in an irritated tone.

"Yeah we know, but you are also the same boy who irons his socks, enjoys knitting-

"Crocheting James. It's different." Interrupted Adelaide. James waved her off dismissively and continued.

"And who is the voice of reason amongst our band of marauding idiocy. You are not a monster." He said firmly. "You just have a-a... furry little problem." He finished with a smile. The others nodded their heads vehemently in agreement.

Remus looked to them in disbelief. "Y-you don't think I'm a monster? You're not afraid of me?"

"No!" They responded unanimously.

"You're still our friend Remus. Whether you like it or not." Sirius said with a smirk.

"R-really?" Remus asked checking their faces for any sign of a lie. There was none. Not even in the usually fearful Peter.

"Really." Adelaide said. Remus wiped his tear stained cheeks with the sleeve of his jumper and gave a watery smile. He never in a million years thought that he would have friends after his secret was exposed. And yet, here he stood, surrounded by four friends who knew the most horrible part of him and loved and accepted him anyway. He had never felt happier or more grateful in all his 11.8 years of life.

"Now, that that's settled, can we please get back to the dorm so I can finish beating James in exploding snap?" Sirius asked smirking and earning a playful whack from both James and Adelaide.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6 - The Furry Little Solution**

The Marauders were nearing the end of their first year at Hogwarts. While most of the student population was rejoicing with the prospect of leaving school for a few months, two particular Gryffindors were dreading it.

People deal with impending loathsome events in a variety of ways. Sirius Black, for example, was prone to become more moody and quick tempered than normal. He would become quickly frustrated during class when a spell wouldn't work and pick fights with Snivellus at any given opportunity. It was not the most constructive or moral outlet, but it was effective.

Adelaide Fawley, on the other hand, acted. She acted completely and utterly unfazed by the inevitably deplorable summer ahead of her. The only detectable difference in her demeanor was that she had become uncharacteristically quiet and withdrawn. She didn't brood like Sirius, but her presence in conversations noticeably diminished more and more with every day leading up to their eventual departure.

However, while she became more and more withdrawn from socialization, she became more and more enraptured with a side project she had been working on for some months.

After the reveal of her best friend Remus's lycanthropic condition, she made it her personal mission to learn anything and everything about the condition itself. While pouring over a rather dense text regarding magical beasts, she came across some very interesting information. Werewolves, almost exclusively, attacked humans. Animals, or humans in an animagus form, were unlikely to be targeted and could not be infected if bitten at a full moon.

 _Animagus_. That was the solution. It was the furry little solution to Remus's furry little problem. There were only two obstacles with this solution. First, being that she was 11 years old and had absolutely no clue how to even begin to become an animagus. The second, was that Loony Lupin would have an absolute fit if she ever tried to become one for his sake.

If she was going to overcome these obstacles she would indubitably need some help. She decided to call upon Sirius, knowing that her ill-tempered friend could certainly use the distraction.

The group of friends were walking to their next class, Herbology, when she pulled Sirius aside from the others. "Sirius." She whispered. "I have something I need your help with." He gave her a quizzical look, assuming the matter she spoke of was of a mischievous nature. "I think I found a way to help Remus with his... furry little problem." She said as quiet as she could.

Sirius's eyebrows shot up. "What? What do you mean?" He asked.

"You know how Minnie can become a cat?" She said reminding him of Professor McGonagall.

"Yes?" He replied.

"Well I did some research and.. er.. _you-know-what's_ only attack humans. They can't turn animals, not even people in the form of animals.. like Minnie."

"I'm confused. Are you saying you want Minnie to go hang out with Remus in the shrieking shack or something?" Sirius's said incredulously, stopping in his steps.

"No, not her. _Us_." She said grinning and bouncing on the balls of her feet.

"Addy I'm not following here. I can't turn into a cat.. I don't even really like cats-"

Adelaide cut him off. "I want us to try to become animagi like Minnie." She said.

"W-wha... but how?" He asked in surprise. He was in no way against doing something reckless and stupid in the name of friendship, but he was curious as to how she suggested they pull this off.

"Er.. I hadn't gotten quite that far. That's why I needed your help." She said sheepishly, running a hand through her white-blonde hair as Sirius laughed and rolled his eyes. "So, are you in?"

"Are you kidding? Of course I'm in!" He said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. She grinned.

With only two weeks until they boarded the train home, they had to work fast. Adelaide and Sirius decided to keep James, Peter, and most of all Remus, in the dark about their plan. The two spent hours and hours everyday scouring the library for information. They found plenty of books referring to Animagi, but not none that gave any indication as to the process required to actually become one. They decided that they would need to check the restricted section next.

They met in the common room around two in the morning one Thursday night. Adelaide waited as Sirius finally arrived with the invisibility cloak and the partially-finished map (in case they found any hidden passages) and the two friends set off for the library.

"Addy," Sirius whispered as they walked down an abandoned corridor.

"Mhmm." She hummed.

"I don't want to go home." He said glumly.

She looked up at the shaggy haired boy who was now several inches taller than her. "Me neither." She said with sadness in her forest green eyes than Sirius hadn't seen since he found her crying in garden the summer before.

"Do you think they'll let you visit?" Sirius asked, referring to her parents.

"I dunno.. maybe." She shrugged. "I hope so... I dunno what I'll do if I have to go all those months without insulting you."

"You'll probably die." Sirius deadpanned.

"Probably." She replied seriously, before giggling.

"Mrrroww"

They stopped dead in their tracks and turned their heads to see Mrs. Norris stalking about in the hall just behind them. They carefully continued to make their way toward the library, in silence.

Eventually they lost the creepy feline and found themselves alone in the library.

" _I hate cats_ ," muttered Sirius under his breath.

"I'm going to laugh so hard if your animagus ends up being a cat." Addy mused. She stifled a laugh as she saw Sirius's horrified expression.

"One thing at a time, love." He said through his teeth as he began to check the transfiguration books in the restricted section.

While they didn't find any step-by-step instructions on how to become animagi, they did find some bits and pieces. Part of which involved a very complicated potion as well as having a mandrake leaf in their mouths for an entire month. However, the most useful information they came across was an obscure citation to another book, one not available in the school library. ' _Iolanthe Peverell's Guide to Animagi_ '. This had to be what they needed.

"Peverell.. do you think that's the same Peverell as the whole three brothers thing?" Sirius asked in hushed tones, eyes glinting with excitement.

"I dunno... but I think we need to try to find this book." Adelaide said with determination. Sirius nodded.

The two made their way back to the common room and decided that since they now at least had a bit of a lead, they would clue Peter and James in on their secret plot the next day, leaving Remus for another day.

However, as the two walked into the common room taking off the invisibility cloak, they were greeted by a very annoyed and very suspicious Remus John Lupin.

"What in the world are you two plotting?!" The grumpy werewolf exclaimed throwing his hands in the air.

Adelaide and Sirius gulped.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7 - Iolanthe Peverell's Guide to Animagi**

"Wearetryingtofigureouthowtobecomeanimagibutweknewyouwouldbemadifyoufoundoutsowedidn'ttellyouandwearereallyreallysorrybutwewerejusttryingtohelp!" Sirius said quickly in one breath.

"Uh... the only thing I really picked up out of that was 'animagi'"Remus said, slightly confused. Remus was under the impression that Adelaide and Sirius were plotting some big end of year prank without him and the others. He had no idea how animagi could be involved.

Adelaide glared at the ineloquent best friend beside her, took a deep breath, then spoke. "Sirius and I have been researching how to become animagi so that we can be with you and help you during your transformations." She said slowly.

"No. No no no no no NO. nope. Not happening. Absolutely not. You can't. You shan't!" Remus ranted. He was now pacing back and forth across the common room, hands running through his sandy brown hair.

"We shall!" Piped in Sirius happily.

"You _shan't_!" Growled Remus. "I refuse to let you put your lives in danger just for me."

"First of all, you are our best friend, we will bloody well put our lives in danger as much as we please. It's part of the deal. Second of all, I've done a ton of reading on the subject and we would actually be safer if we were able to become animagi." Adelaide said sternly. Remus opened his mouth to protest, but she ignored him and continued. "You are worried you'll attack one of us right? Accidentally turn one us into a you-know-what?" Remus didn't reply, but it was evident from his face that this was the truth. "Well, if we were able to become animagi, you would have some company every month, you wouldn't be drawn to attack us because we will be animals, not humans, and even if you did, we wouldn't be turned. We would have a nasty bite or something, but we would be otherwise completely fine." She finished.

Remus couldn't fault her logic, but he still couldn't let them go through with it. "You act as if becoming an animagus is like learning a new charm for class! It's got to be difficult and dangerous! I can't let you put yourselves in harms way just for me... not to mention that if you actually managed to figure it out you could go to Azkaban if you got caught!"

"That's part of what makes it exciting!" Sirius said grinning. Adelaide hit him upside the head.

"Honestly Rem, we're going to do this regardless of if you agree. You're going to thank us later. Now, if you excuse me, I'm very tired and would like to go to bed." Adelaide said.

Remus looked exasperated, and Sirius looked betrayed that she left him alone with the grumpy werewolf.

* * *

Early the next day James and Peter were filled in on the plan and were completely onboard with the idea of becoming animagi. Remus was outnumbered and eventually stopped protesting (although he still didn't agree that it was a good idea). That evening Adelaide joined the boys in their dorm to discuss what she and Sirius had learned so far in their hunt for information.

"So all we really know that there's a pretty complicated potion involved and that we will have to have a mandrake leaf in our mouths for a month." Sirius stated.

"That's it?" Asked James.

"No, there's more! There's this really old book that we're pretty sure will give us a step by step guide." Sirius said.

"Great! What book?!" James asked.

"Er- Addy.." Sirius said looking to his white-blonde friend for help.

"Oh! Uh- hang on I wrote it down." She said rummaging through her pockets. "Ah ha!" She pulled out the crumpled scrap of parchment from her pocket and held it in the air proudly. She cleared her throat before reciting the text title. " _Iolanthe Peverell's Guide to Animagi_ "

"Don't you mean Iolanthe _Potter_?" Said James. The rest of the group looked at him as if he had suddenly grown three and half heads. He looked back in confusion. "Iolanthe Peverell married a Potter.. she was the last Peverell... Stop looking at me like that!" He said.

"We're sorry, it's just that this is an awful lot to take in." Said Adelaide.

"You're related to the Peverells? As in 'The Tale of The Three Brothers' Peverells?" Squeaked Peter.

"Uh.. I mean I guess...but those are just stories." He replied waving him off.

"James, does your family have any old books laying around at home?" Asked Adelaide.

"Oh yeah! We have a whole library! But I don't usually go in that part of the manor on account of all the doxies hiding about." He shrugged.

"Do you think, perhaps they might have an old copy of an old relatives book in that library of yours?" She suggested.

"I mean probably, I don't see why they wouldn't.. oh!" James exclaimed coming to realization that he may hold the key to their plan.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8 -** **Rather Unexpected House Guests**

"ADELAIDE!" Screamed Mrs. Fawley, "ADELAIDE COME HERE THIS INSTANT!"

"Coming mother." The small white-blonde almost 12-year-old girl called back as she left her emerald green and silver bedroom (clearly decorated before she was so tragically and wrongly sorted into Gryffindor).

She padded down the marble stairs to the drawing room below and was shocked to find some rather unexpected house guests. Sitting upon the black couch in the dark room was none other than the Mrs. Black, Sirius, and Regulus. She was absolutely ecstatic to see her best friend as well as Regulus who had become something of a pen pal the months after Christmas. It had been about a month since they returned home from school for the summer and she hadn't seen any of her friends in all that time nor been able to send them any letters. However, being who she was, she hid her excitement with a face of utter indifference toward the guests. Only Sirius noticed the glint of excitement in her forest green eyes.

Adelaide politely greeted their guests and sat down beside her mother.

"Ah Walburga, was just saying how young Regulus is looking forward to starting his first year at school. He hopes to be a Slytherin, isn't that right Regulus?"

"Yes Ma'am." The boy confirmed.

"Yes, Regulus understands our values much better than others.." Walburga Black said giving a pointed nasty look toward Sirius.

It is important to note that while neither Mrs. Fawley nor Mrs. Black were at all fond of Adelaide's Gryffindor placement, they still believed her to be of the same mind as them in regards to blood purity and the like. They had absolutely no knowledge of her deep friendship with Sirius or her mischievous escapades with the Marauders during school. However, they did know she was in friendly correspondence with Regulus.

Adelaide had to bite her tongue as she watched the venomous Mrs. Black berate her eldest son throughout their visit. She was relieved when her mother suggested that she give the boys a tour of the manor and grounds. Finally she would have some time to talk with her best friend.

As soon as they were out of sight of their mothers, Adelaide and Sirius both moved to embrace each other tightly. Once they were separated she gave Regulus a kind smile and light hug as well. "Oh Sirius I've missed your ugly misshapen face so much, you have no idea!" Adelaide exclaimed. Sirius tried to scowl at the insult but couldn't keep himself from grinning. "And Reg! It's so nice to see you again in person!" She smiled to the younger boy whose face lit up. "Come on! I'll show you my garden, we can talk there." She said excitedly, grabbing both boys by the hands and leading them down the back stairs, through the french-doors, and on through the grounds until they reached an ivy covered doorway.

Though Sirius had been in her garden previously, it was under very different circumstances. He hadn't noticed before just how lovely and peaceful it really was. It was the complete opposite of the Fawley Manor in every way. It was full of light, freedom, and life.

The garden was protected from the outside world by great stone walls and pillars covered in ivy and creeping plants. It looked like the overgrown ruins of an old and ancient castle or palace. All around were willowy trees with delicate white and pale pink flowers and magical levitating plant tendrils lazily flowing in the non-existent wind. In the center of the garden there was a stone fountain with water lilies. The water was clear and sparkled in the filtered sunlight through the overhanging trees.

"Wow." Said Regulus as he looked around mouth hanging open in awe.

"It's pretty, huh?" Adelaide said twirling around in a nearby gazebo with stone benches within. "Come over here so we can catch up!" She said beckoning the two Black boys over to the gazebo. They sat upon the benches but looked apprehensive, as if it wasn't really as safe as it seemed within those ancient walls. Seeing their faces, Adelaide reassured them saying, "It's charmed so they can't hear us from the outside and the tree over there by the door will wiggle when someone is coming."

They sat together in that quiet sanctuary wondering where to even begin.

"Have you heard from James or the others?" Adelaide asked Sirius. "Mother dearest won't let me write or receive any letters..." she said sadly, looking over to Regulus.

Sirius smiled sadly, he may have it bad at home, but at least he wasn't left in complete isolation. He knew his mother secretly liked him going to the Potters if only to get him out of her hair.

"I actually went to see James last week.." Sirius informed her. Adelaide looked impassive, but he knew she was upset. "Remus and Peter were there too.." he added guiltily.

"Oh." She replied, stoic expression chiseled upon her face.

"We wanted to invite you Addy! We tried to! But when you didn't reply we figured your mum was intercepting our owls. We- we found the..." Sirius paused glancing over to Regulus, "the uh.. thing we were looking for." He finished, referring to a certain book.

Regulus looked a little confused, but didn't ask any questions. Meanwhile, Adelaide's face went from tight and impassive to wide eyed and thrilled.

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! YOU REALLY FOUND IT?!" She squealed jumping up from her seat upon the stone bench.

Sirius loved seeing her so happy. "Yep, it took the better part of two days and I got bitten by at least 5 doxies, but we found it." He smiled.

"Oh this is brilliant." She said with a smile, sighing contentedly as she sat back down. "Now, Regulus. Please tell me everything I missed! How's Kreature?!"

"That's what you two chat about in those letters of yours? Kreature?!" Sirius's Exclaimed incredulously.

Adelaide shushed him and waved him off dismissively waiting for Regulus to answer.

"Kreature is doing well, he learned a new recipe for Lemon Meringue Pie that's absolutely wonderful! Oh and I read a new book about Magical Creatures and decided that my new favorite animal is a Fwooper! It's a little colorful African bird and whenever it sings it drives people insane!" Regulus rambled happily. "I think they have them at a shop in Diagon Alley, but they put silencing charms on them for obvious reasons. But I wonder what happens when someone already insane listens to them though... do they go more insane or just kind of stay the same?" He mused.

Adelaide smiled wide at the happy boy. She told him how fascinating the bird sounded and how she hoped he would be able to try the house Elf's pie one day. Then, she looked over to see Sirius looking completely dumbfounded. "What's with the face Sirius?" She asked.

"That's the most he's said at one time the whole freaking summer!" He exclaimed pointing to his little brother whose face was now a light shade of pink.

Adelaide rolled her eyes smirking at the dramatic boy. "You obviously just don't ask the right questions you git." She turned her direction to Regulus. "Now Reg, I wanted to talk to you about school.." she said more solemnly. Regulus gulped. This was what he was worried she would talk to him about.

"I just want you to know that I'll still be your friend even if your in Slytherin. I'll be your friend no matter what house you join, okay?" She said to the younger boy.

This wasn't what he expected. He knew Adelaide shared his brothers opinions and expected her to pressure him into not choosing Slytherin, but as usual, she surprised him. "Okay Addy," he nodded with a sweet smile.

Adelaide was opening her mouth to speak again when she saw the tree next to the door wiggle. Someone was coming.

Her head snapped to the other boys and she quickly told them it was time to go. They were walking back toward the door when Mrs. Fawley walked into the garden looking very out of place with a disgusted look upon her pale face.

"I figured you'd be out here..." she said coldly to Adelaide. "Time to go children."

The children walked back to the Manor and the Blacks were about to take the floo back home when Sirius asked to use the restroom, making eye contact with Adelaide. She offered to show him the way.

They walked down a secluded hall, far away from nosey eavesdroppers. Adelaide knew this was just an excuse for him to talk to her without his brother around.

"Addy. I couldn't give this to you earlier because of Reg, but here." He said handing the girl a small ornate compact mirror. "It's actually your birthday present but I figured I wouldn't see you again until after."

"Uh, thanks?" She replied. It was very pretty, gold and engraved with ivy wrapping around it with her name in the center in ornate cursive. However, she thought Sirius knew her enough to know she really would have preferred a more practical gift.

"Addy. It's a two way mirror. I have the other one." He smiled. "You just say my full name and it will heat up so I can see you and talk to you and vis-versa."

"I-I- can't believe- _Thank you_." She was in awe.

"You're welcome. I had to let you insult me somehow. Can't have you dying on us now can we," he said with a wink. They heard Mrs. Black shout his name. "We need to head back now." He said with a frown at his brow turning to head back.

Adelaide stopped him, grabbing him by the wrist, and looked straight into his grey eyes. "Thank you Sirius. Really. This is best present any one has ever given me."

He grinned back to her. "You're welcome, love."


	9. Chapter 9-Year 2

**Chapter 9 - The Second September 1st**

For the rest of the summer Adelaide's only contact with Sirius, or any of her other friends, was through the two-way mirror. She would visit her garden per usual, but instead of reading in the tree swing as she told her parents, she would talk and laugh with Sirius for hours. Her favorite days were when he would go to visit one of the other Marauders (most often James).

Finally, on September 1st she would get to see her friends in person. She stood on the platform with her mother and father. Mr. Fawley was an intimidatingly quiet man. He had light-blonde hair which was almost white, just like Adelaide's. His eyes, however, were a cool blue. He worked in the ministry in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.

Mrs. Fawley was a very pretty woman, even at her advanced age. She would have been more beautiful if she didn't wear a perpetual look of disgust upon her pale face. She had big hazel green eyes, and graying light brown hair. She was an active member amongst the pure blood social sphere and was always in one meeting or another.

The two impassive parents and their daughter were soon greeted by their old friends Mr. and Mrs. Black and their two sons. They exchanged pleasantries and then Adelaide gave a look to her mother.

"Oh, Walburga, Adelaide has a gift for Regulus." She drawled.

Regulus, who was looking rather forlorn despite the fact that he was about to go off to Hogwarts, perked up at the mention of his name.

Adelaide smiled softly (grinning internally), and tuned around to grab something from behind her. She turned back around holding a small bird cage containing a vibrantly lime green bird with big eyes that was shaped somewhat like an upside-down teardrop.

Regulus beamed. "Is that a-!"

"Fwooper? Yes." She smiled. "It's also yours now. They had other colors but I thought you may appreciate the green. It's a male by the way." She said softly.

"Addy! You remembered! I-I can't believe it!" He said as he took the small bird cage from her hands.

"So what are you going to name him?" Asked Sirius grinning. He had been completely in the loop on Adelaide's plan to get the silly bird for his little brother.

"Uh... I dunno." Regulus mumbled.

Sirius tutted. "That's a terrible name."

Adelaide completely forgot her surroundings and let out a loud and unbridled laugh. Sirius shot her an amused but worried look she didn't comprehend immediately. Then, she noticed the looks of disdain from the four adults towering above them. Her wide smile melted off of her face and turned into a look of fear before returning to its usual stoicism.

She averted her eyes to Regulus and cleared her throat, "how about Merlin? He was a Slytherin you know." She said calmly to the younger boy.

"Oh Merlin!" Sirius said cooing to the bird winking to his brother and Adelaide. Regulus cracked a smile.

"I like it." Regulus said grinning.

The three children eventually made their way toward the train, their trunks and Merlin in tow.

"You wanna sit with us lil bro?" Sirius asked smiling while he ruffled Regulus's hair.

"Um.. I was going to try to sit with some kids my age..." he said hesitantly patting his hair down.

"Oh. Uh yeah okay.. you should do that." Sirius said trying to act unfazed.

"Will you come by later and say hi? You can show Merlin off to our friends!" Adelaide suggested excitedly. "They've been listening to me talk about it for-" she stopped herself realizing her slip up. Regulus didn't know about the mirror.

"Huh? But I thought you weren't able to see or write to anyone." Regulus said picking up on her mistake.

"Uh..um..." she looked to Sirius for help.

"She was able to write towards the end. Her parents got sick of intercepting he owls after a while." Sirius lied unflinchingly.

"Oh... why didn't you write me then?" Regulus asked clearly hurt.

"I-I wanted to Reg.." she said pathetically before he cut her off.

"I need to go, before the compartments are all full." Regulus said leaving the two second year Gryffindors.

"You'll come back though right?" Adelaide called.

"Perhaps." Regulus replied before moving out of view.

Sirius looked over at his sad best friend feeling guilty. "Addy I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said-"

"No, it's okay. It's my fault. I shouldn't have said so much." She responded quietly looking down at her feet.

"You were just excited. It's okay. He'll come around, I promise." He said giving her a reassuring side hug while she nodded. "C'mon lets go find the others!"

They traveled down the corridor until they reached a compartment with two out of the three friends they were searching for. Adelaide rushed to hug the now taller Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew. While they chuckled at her enthusiasm.

"You all getting much too tall!" She said in mock annoyance with her hands on her hips and a small smile tugging at her lips while the boys laughed. "Where's James?" She asked looking around as if he was hiding somewhere within the compartment.

Remus pointed out the window to a messy haired boy being repeatedly hugged, kissed, and fawned over (much to his dismay) by two older parents. James eventually made his way into the compartment and they set off toward the castle.

On the train ride they played games, ate candy, and laughed a great amount. They also discussed some of the things they would be have to do to become Animagi. They decided to begin with learning the Patronus Charm as it was the easiest task and they would learn what form they would take.

The journey back to the Scottish countryside ended much too soon. Regulus never came to visit.

The group of five made their way toward the carriages but soon found that they would have to split up. Adelaide volunteered to ride with some of the other Gryffindor girls. She climbed into the carriage to see the three girls whom she had shared a room with the previous school year; Marlene McKinnon, Mary McDonald, and Lily Evans.

Adelaide felt slightly awkward. She had spent most of her time the previous year with the boys and honestly hadn't cared to get to know the other girls. She knew a little about them, but it was a stretch to call them friends of hers.

Marlene McKinnon had honey blonde hair, deep blue eyes, and smirked more then she smiled. She was very good at Defense Against the Dark Arts and would not hesitate to hex anyone who messed with her because of her Half-blood status.

Mary McDonald had dark brown hair and big brown eyes. She was very cute and very bubbly. She loved to talk and seemed to always have a bounce in her step. However, being pureblood, she also had an air of elegance to her movements and in her interactions.

Lily Evans had red hair and vibrantly green eyes. She was muggleborn and proud of it. She was a hard worker and excelled in Potions and charms. She was very kind to everyone except to the Marauders who mercilessly pranked her best friend Severus Snape.

"Erm.. do you mind if I sit here?" Adelaide asked cautiously.

"Not at all! Come on in!" Said Mary. The others shared a look, but hen shrugged and agreed.

There was an uncomfortable silence.

"Um... so how were your summers?" Adelaide asked trying to ease the tension.

"I went to France with my parents for most of the summer." Marlene provided bluntly. Adelaide waited for her to say more.. but she didn't.

Lily was the next to speak. "Uh... well I spent my summer at home. But Sev lives next door so we spend a good amount of time together... and away from my sister..."

"Oh... uh well that's nice. What about you Mary?" Adelaide asked.

"I spent the first part of my summer at home and the rest visiting America! It was absolutely wonderful. Have you ever been to America Ads?" Mary asked warmly. Adelaide smiled softly.

"I haven't, but it seems like a lovely place." She answered.

"Oh it is! So much more lively than London." Mary said brightly. "So what about you? How was your summer?"

"I-I- uh.. well I was home the whole time. I uh.. wanted to go hang out with the boys.. but my parents wouldn't let me write any letters.." the other girls looked shocked. "But I.. erm.. did get to see Sirius and his little brother when his family visited one afternoon! but I uh... mostly just spent my summer in my garden." She answered truthfully. She considered lying, but decided it was less work to just be honest.

"Wait... so you didn't leave the house all summer?" Asked Marlene.

"Well I did get to go shopping for school this week.. I got Sirius's little brother a bird as a start of school present." She smiled to herself, then turned sad at the thought of Regulus being upset with her.

"But other than that. You were just locked up the whole time!?" Marlene asked.

"Well kind of. I have a secret garden.. well not so much secret as hidden.. but I spent a lot of time there to get out of the manor." Adelaide supplied.

"You have a secret garden?!" Lily asked enthusiastically.

"Oh yes! It's lovely! Sirius got to see it and I swear his jaw hit the floor." She chucked to herself. "When I was little I had a nanny that would secretly read me a muggle book that was about one and I just got obsessed."

"The Secret Garden!? That's one of my favorite books!!" Lily exclaimed. "Why did she have to read it in secret?" She asked confused.

Adelaide looked uncomfortably down at her feet. Thankfully Mary answered for her, "some pureblood families don't like their kids hearing muggle stories."

"Oh." Lily replied simply letting the matter drop.

They chatted about nothing of consequence for the remainder of the ride and soon found themselves in the great hall. Adelaide waved goodbye to the girls with a genuine smile as she sat next to her boys.

"New friends?" Sirius asked.

Adelaide shrugged. "Looks like it's headed that way."

A few moments later the first years walked up to the front of the hall to be sorted.

"Black, Regulus!" Called Professor McGonagall. Adelaide and Sirius tensed and waited with baited breath as the youngest Black walked up and sat on the old three legged stool.

The hat was placed upon his head. It was the longest five minutes of Adelaide and Sirius's young lives, but finally the hat came to a decision.

"SLYTHERIN!"

Adelaide felt tears prickling her eyes, her throat tight. She could only wonder what Sirius was feeling at this moment.

She had no other words of comfort to give him other than a small, "I'm sorry."


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10- That Moody Blonde Girl**

The night of Regulus's sorting into Slytherin House was a sad one for Adelaide. Regulus had he follow in the footsteps of his blood status obsessed parents and he was upset with her. Adelaide lied to him and hurt him. She felt _horrible_. Horrible because she couldn't tell him the truth and because, regardless of the truth, she should have found a way to write him. Her parents absolutely adored Regulus. If they were going to let her owl anyone it would have been him. But she was a coward and didn't even suggest it.

She padded her way up the stairs to the girls dorm lazily after the feast with her head down, trying to contain the swirling emotions brewing within her.

"What's wrong with you?" Marlene asked bluntly as she entered the room.

"Oh.. uh nothing." She replied.

"You're sad about Sirius's brother going to Slytherin, aren't you?" Mary said softly. Adelaide looked up to see Mary McDonald's face full of sympathy, but didn't answer.

"What's wrong with Slytherin?" Lily asked defensively.

"Nothing." Adelaide sighed as she flopped onto her cozy bed. She didn't even change out of her day clothes before falling asleep awkwardly on top of her duvet.

* * *

The next morning, Adelaide awoke early and uncomfortably, realizing she had slept in her clothes. She dragged her body out of bed and into the bathroom to change into fresh set of robes and to try to make herself look presentable.

While she brushed through her messy hair, she made it her mission to try to apologize to Regulus. While she couldn't tell the whole truth, she could hopefully convey the immense amount of remorse she possessed. She went down to breakfast with the boys, set down her bag in her usual spot next to Sirius, but then set off for the Slytherin Table.

"Where's Ads going?" Peter asked, scratching his head as he watched the mass of platinum blonde hair walk away.

Adelaide spotted the young black haired boy whom she was looking for. He was sitting quietly with a couple of other first years Adelaide didn't know.

She cleared her throat, "um Reggie? Can I uh- talk to you for a moment?"

The boy turned around with a cold look in his eyes she had never seen directed at her before. "Why?" He said with the signature languid pureblood drawl.

"I wanted to apologize." She said more confidently than she felt. "Can we talk somewhere else?" She asked.

"Very well Adelaide," he said in a bored tone as he rose form his seat. He sounded so eerily like his father, Orion Black, that it momentarily left Adelaide in shock.

However, she quickly composed herself and the two made their way out of the great hall, unaware of the looks they were receiving from other students. Once in the hall, Regulus stood with his arms folded over his chest, looking bored once again.

"Reggie. I'm so sorry. I know I messed up. I should have written you." Adelaide said sincerely, though lying at the same time.

"It's fine." He said.

"No, it's not. You're my friend and I should have taken your feelings into account." She said firmly. "Please forgive me Reggie. I know Sirius and I are best friends, but I considered you one of my best friends too." She said in small voice. " _Please_ forgive me." She finished with an uncharacteristic amount of unadulterated feeling.

Regulus was still hurt, but he could see the sincerity in her apology. As much as he was upset, he missed his friend more.

After a long moment, Adelaide was about to give up, but then he finally responded. "I forgive you Addy." He said softly. His tone was warm again, and his lips quirked upwards into a small smile. He was immediately, and somewhat violently, squished into an embrace by the small smiling Gryffindor girl.

The two made their way back to breakfast with wide smiles upon their faces. A complete change from the expressions they wore only a few minutes before. Again, they were completely obvious to the analyzing looks cast by their fellow breakfast eating peers.

"See you later Reggie! Tell Merlin I said hi!" Adelaide said waving goodbye and walking to sit with the other Marauders.

"Will do Addy!" He said waving back laughing.

As she sat at the table, all of the boys, except Sirius, gave her a quizzical look. Sirius was the first to speak. "I guess you two made up huh?" He said bumping shoulders with the girl.

"Yes we did. You were right." She conceded.

"As always," he added with a smirk.

"Don't ruin the moment troll face." She said, trying and failing to stop her self from grinning.

* * *

After about two weeks, everyone had mostly gotten into the swing of things again. Mary had quickly become Adelaide's best girl friend. Marlene and Lily could probably be considered her friends too, but Mary and Adelaide seemed to just click. Mary's bubbly and kind personality complemented Adelaide's more reserved nature. Mary found that Adelaide very kind and generous behind her tough exterior.

One Sunday afternoon in early October, the two Gryffindor girls were sitting together in the library afternoon trying to finish their assignments for the next week. Adelaide was having trouble concentrating on account of the two girls whispering behind her. When Mary got up to look for a book on mandrakes, Adelaide's attention soon found itself placed on their conversation rather than her Herbology essay.

" _Bet she wishes she was with the rest of her Slytherin friends_." Sneered one girl. _"All she does is hang out with purebloods anyway."_

 _"You know I heard her parents were death eaters."_ Spat the other.

 _"Really? Well it doesn't surprise me a bit. I'm sure the pureblood princess will fall instep with them as well."_ Said the first girl.

 _"Don't forget about her pureblood prince Regulus!"_ The other laughed.

Adelaide felt angry. How dare they gossip about her! But she knew that fighting them would only further the rumors against her. So, instead forced her feelings aside, packed her things and lied to Mary saying she was heading back up to the tower to meet the boys.

When she got to the common room she walked determinedly toward the girls stairs. She just wanted to be alone.

"Adelaide!" Called the one and only James Potter.

"What do you want?" She snapped coldly. James was taken aback by her tone.

"You okay, Ads?" He asked concerned and confused.

"I'm fine. What do you want?" She said coldly once again, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I just wanted to say hi." He said hesitantly.

She rolled her eyes and stomped up the stairs to the girls dorm where she stayed until dinner.

When she came down for dinner she walked down to the hall alone. Her mood had improved, but she felt on edge, as if she suddenly became hyper aware of other people around her. She walked by a group of Ravenclaws on the staircase who sniggered as she walked past them.

She was just outside the large double doors to the great hall when she came across Regulus.

"Hey Addy!" He called out happily, trotting to stand next to her.

"Hey Reg," She said morosely.

"What's up with you? You seem more moody than normal." He pointed out.

"I'm not moody!" She defended.

"Yes you are, but it's okay." He shrugged. "I'm used to it." She gave the boy a side eyed look as he smirked and they entered into the hall.

"See you around little Reggie," she said messing up the boys hair before he walked away to the Slytherin table, trying to smooth it back down.

As she walked to where Remus was already sitting at the Gryffindor table, she noticed the judgmental looks from the other students and it made her frustrated once again. She sat her self at the table in a huff, brows furrowed.

"You okay Addy?" Remus asked concerned.

"No." She responded shortly, scooping up some mashed Potatoes and plopping them on her plate forcefully.

"Wanna talk about it?" He coaxed.

"I don't see the point. It won't change anything." She said as she grabbed some roast chicken and all but threw it on her plate. She looked up to see Remus looking completely unfazed by her moodiness. She sighed. "Are you aware of what people call me?"

"That moody blonde girl?" Remus guessed jokingly.

"Why does everyone keep calling me moody? I'm not moody!" She screeched. Remus raised an eyebrow at her outburst. "Okay fine maybe I'm a little moody..." she conceded. She slumped in her seat. "They call me the Pureblood Princess. They all think I'm one of those blood status obsessed crazies." She said softly, looking down at her chicken and potatoes.

"Well anyone who really knows you, knows that you're not. Who cares what those people say?" Remus said with a reassuring smile that Adelaide returned.

"You really are the voice of reason amongst our band of marauding idiocy." Adelaide told the now blushing boy. "Thanks Rem."


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11- Be Nice To Her**

"Oi Adelaide! You're a girl!" James called out.

"Very well spotted." Adelaide said rolling her eyes and continuing her chess game with peter in the corner of the common room.

James moved a chair beside her and moved her chess piece just before she had a chance to. It wasn't the move she was going to make, but she nodded; it was better than what she would have done.

"Addykins. My dear, lovely, wonderful, terrifyingly brilliant-"

"Get to the point James." Adelaide said in a bored tone, eyes fixed on Peter as he hesitantly planned his next move.

"Do you know Lily Evans?"

"Well duh. We sleep in the same room." She said annoyed, still not looking up. She then groaned as Peter took her bishop.

"Does she ever talk about me?" He asked.

"Yes." She said. She moved her knight to take out Peters rook. "Ha! Take that!"

"Really?! What does she say?!" James asked excitedly.

Peter smirked as he moved to take Adelaide's knight. "Check," he said sweetly.

"Ughhh! Peter you cheater!" Adelaide exclaimed realizing she had fallen for his trap, completely ignoring James's question.

James was getting annoyed with her not paying attention to him and moved the piece she needed to check him and eventually win the game. James was very good at chess, in case you haven't noticed.

"You're the cheater!" Peter exclaimed while standing up, his blue eyes narrowed pointing between Adelaide and James. Adelaide grinned.

"Addy! What does Lily say about me?!" James asked again, more obnoxiously.

Adelaide smiled watching Peter flounder, desperately thinking of a way to protect his king. It was hopeless. "She says your immature and annoying and I quote 'an arrogant toe-rag'. She calls you that a lot. I don't even really know what a toe-rag is, but it can't be good if she's using it to describe you," she laughed.

"W-what?" James said sadly, voice cracking. Adelaide finally looked to the boy who secured her chess victory and was surprised to see him looking quite crestfallen.

"Um.. well you had to know she wasn't your biggest fan.. Snivellus is her best friend and we prank him like three times a week." She said trying to be compassionate. Since when did James care what Lily thought of him? Since when did James care what anyone thought of him?

"Well I knew I wasn't her favorite, but I didn't think she _hated_ me..." he said watching as Peter moved his chess piece, insuring Adelaide's win.

"Check Mate." Adelaide said quickly to pouty Peter, before turning her attention fully to pouty James. "I don't think Lily is capable of actually hating anyone Jamie. Why don't you just... try being nice to her every once and a while." Adelaide suggested to the sad messy haired boy beside her.

"Be nice to her?" He said looking more optimistic, a mischievous smile creeping up upon his face. ' _Oh Good_ _Godric'_ Adelaide thought to herself. "I'm going to be so nice to Lily she won't even know what hit her, then she won't think I'm a toe-rag-thing anymore!" James pronounced, clearly very pleased with himself.

* * *

James Potter was indeed nice to Lily Evans. Very nice. Disturbingly nice. He offered to hold her books on the way to class, gave her his jacket when he saw her 'out in the elements', gave her flowers nearly every day, and complemented her non-stop. He was oblivious to the fact that Lily now found him more irritating than ever.

One Tuesday in late November, James was at lunch, bombarding poor Lily Evans with unwanted complements, per usual.

"What is up with James lately?" Peter asked as all the Marauders watched their bespectacled friend make a fool out of himself down the table once again.

"I do believe that James fancies Miss Evans." Remus stated.

"What!?" Sirius said whipping his head around to face the scared boy.

"Oh he absolutely fancies her." Adelaide agreed nodding her head, ignoring Sirius.

" _WHAT_!?" Sirius screeched earning a few looks from nearby students.

Remus and Adelaide continued to ignored their dramatic friend. "I feel bad for Evans, honestly. I told him to try being nice to her, but James being James, he just had to take it too far." Adelaide said shaking her head in disappointment.

"He told you all and not me?! I'm practically his brother!" Sirius said indignantly.

"Oh calm down! He didn't tell us anything, it's just well.. obvious." Remus said.

"Oh." Sirius said realizing his mistake. "Well if anyone else fancies someone they better tell me." He grumbled bitterly.

"Sure thing Siri-boo" Adelaide said clapping him on the back and smirking while he other two sniggered and Sirius continued to sulk.

* * *

"Evans! Are you coming to our quidditch match this weekend?" James asked Lily hopefully as they walked out of potions later that day.

"Yes." She replied shortly, trying to walk away from him. James's face lit up like a kid on Christmas morning as he stood dazed for a moment. He quickly regained his senses and ran to catch up with the redhead.

"He really has it bad doesn't he." Adelaide remarked to Sirius with a smile as they watched their best friend sprint after the green eyed witch.

"He does." Sirius said with furrowed brows noticing that James looked at Lily the same way Regulus looked at Adelaide.

* * *

That evening Adelaide was getting ready for bed... well she was getting ready to go over to the boys dorm to practice casting the Patronus Charm and to work on the map.. but it was essentially the same, besides the whole sleeping aspect at the end.

As Adelaide finished brushing her teeth she was met by a very stern looking Lily Evans. "Erm.. hi Lily.." Adelaide greeted awkwardly to the redhead who was now staring her down.

"Tell Potter to leave me alone." Lily demanded, nostrils flared. Adelaide spotted a few flower petals in her red hair.

"Um... okay.. but I don't think he's going to listen." Adelaide said hesitantly. James was almost as stubborn as Sirius.

"But you're his _best friend!_ " She snapped, as if this proved Adelaide wrong.

"I mean I _am_... but he won't stop until he knows that you don't think he's a toe-rag thing anymore." Adelaide informed the girl.

"W-what?! I thought this was all some big prank!" Lily cried out.

"Oh. I could see how you would think that.. but no. He's being completely serious. Actually, I think he sort of fancies you." Adelaide smirked.

Adelaide raised her eyebrows as Lily gave out a furious stream of almost-profane curse words and made her way huffily out of the bathroom. It was at this moment that Adelaide realized she had most definitely just made things worse.

Brushing this odd encounter off, Adelaide said goodnight to Mary and let her know that she would be out late with the boys. She then hastily made her way out of the girls dorm and into the boys, dressed in a pair of black sweatpants and a comfy Beatles T-Shirt that Remus gave her for her birthday.

"Hello Handsomes! I come bearing gifts!" She said lifting up a couple of boxes of Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans. The boys cheered and welcomed her over to where they were huddled around in a circle taking turns trying to cast the Patronus Charm.

They had been working on mastering the charm ever since they started school back in September, and they had all managed to produce at least a wisp of smoky light. Well, all of them except Adelaide. She was normally very good at charms, it was her best class, but she hadn't managed to produce anything whatsoever.

So, as it became her turn once again, she tried and failed to produce anything except a frustrated groan. "Arrhggggghhh this is _impossible_!" She said grumpily.

"Cheer up Ads! You can't be great at everything!" Sirius said cheekily.

"Oh shut up dog breath." She snapped. Sirius, unlike his disgruntled companion had managed to produce part of his Patronus form, a shaggy dog head to be exact.

"Maybe you just need a better memory." Peter suggested kindly.

"Yeah! What Pete said!" James chimed in. "I had the same problem.. until I thought about..." He trailed off with a smile and far off look in his eye, obviously thinking of Lily. Adelaide threw a pillow at his stupid face knocking his glasses off. He glared back her as he placed them back on his face.

"Ignore him." Remus said rolling his eyes. "You can do this Ads, just relax and try again," he said giving her a reassuring shoulder squeeze.

"Finnnneee.." She whined as she stood up to attempt the charm once again.

She tried the memory of her riding a broom for the first time. Nothing.

She tried again, thinking back to when she first looked at her garden. Nothing again.

Then she remembered the day Sirius came to visit. Seeing him after so long and when he gave her the mirror. She tried again.

Finally she produced a bright wispy vapor of silvery smoke.

She looked awestruck at the silvery light, but lost her concentration as the boys began to holler loudly in celebration.

"What memory did you use?" Asked James.

"Erm... uh.. when Sirius visited and brought me the mirror." Adelaide said softly, feeling embarrassed for some reason.

"That's the memory I chose too!" Sirius exclaimed happily, smiling at the girl. "This calls for a celebration!" He said importantly standing up. "To the kitchens mates!" He said throwing a fist in the air dramatically.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12- The Penguin Suit**

Christmas was right around the corner, but unlike the year before, Sirius and Adelaide were being forced to return home for the holidays. Both Mary and James offered to let Adelaide and Sirius stay at their respective homes, but the two sulking Gryffindors didn't have much of a choice but to follow their parents wishes.

Adelaide exited the scarlet train hugging Mary goodbye, telling her that she would write if she could, and that she couldn't wait to hear all about her trip to Greenland when she got back.

"ADELAIDE ROSE!" Screeched a cold voice belonging to Mrs. Cathryn Fawley.

Mary gave her best friend one last tight hug goodbye then watched with sad eyes as Adelaide walked toward the domineering woman in form fitting black robes.

"Hello mother." Adelaide said politely.

"Who was that girl you were fraternizing with?" Mrs. Fawley spat.

"She is my best friend. Her name is Mary McDonald." Adelaide answered. "... _pureblood_." She added after a moment to answer her mothers unsaid question.

Cathryn made a sort of disapproving noise but didn't ask any further questions about the girl. They apperated on the spot back to their manor and Cathryn motioned for Adelaide to join her in the sitting room then demanded their House elf, Mimsy, to take her trunk up to her room. The small girl sat upon the velvet black couch, her back straight, shoulders back, chin up, and stoic expression etched upon her delicate face.

"How is Regulus?" Her mother asked. A small part of Adelaide hoped that her mother would ask her how _she_ was doing, but of course her own daughters happiness was never much of a concern for Cathryn.

"He is well. He's made quite a few new friends in Slytherin." Adelaide informed her. "His favorite class is potions. However, that might be because Professor Slughorn seems to favor him. I strongly suspect he will be invited to the Slug Club at some point." Adelaide drawled. The signature languid pureblood way of speaking tasted like acid within her mouth.

"Good, good. That, reminds me, we will be joining the Blacks at their home for Christmas," the woman continued. " _Unfortunately_ , their eldest son will be in attendance as well... _filthy blood traitor_." She said coldly. "Walburga continues to believe that there is hope for him yet, but based on what she's told me, I fear he is too far gone for anything to be done about it." She said with a deep sigh. "Pity. Had he kept in line, he would have made a suitable match. Completely out of the question now." She said shaking her head.

Adelaide merely nodded as her mother continued to speak at her. She could feel the bile within her oozing up to the surface as she continued to slander her best friend and go on about her future marriage prospects.

"May I please be excused?" The girl inquired after a while. "It was an exceedingly arduous train ride."

"Yes, yes of course. Dinner is at 5:30pm _sharp_. The Avery's will be joining us so make sure to wear something presentable." Her mother said shooing her off.

"Yes mother." She replied before making her way out of the sitting room, up the grand marble stairs, and down the hall to her emerald and silver bedroom on the third floor. She slammed the door shut behind her, then frantically searched through her trunk to find the intricately engraved compact mirror. "Sirius Orion Black the third." She whispered into the mirror, the glass fogging with her ragged breaths.

She place the mirror in her vanity and waited for what felt like hours, days, weeks even, but in reality it was only 10 minutes.

"Hey Addy!" Said a chipper voice. She scrambled and saw the grey eyes and messy dark curls of her best friend.

"Sirius!" She said happily with a relieved smile. It was as if they were back home at Hogwarts. "You look even more hideous than you did an hour ago!" She said with a smile as he laughed.

"I try," he said with a smirk. "What's up? Did you hear the news!?" He asked.

"Yes, _mother dearest_ just told me." She said through her teeth.

"Aren't you excited?" He asked, tilting his head to the side, brows in a small frown and a slight pout to his lips.

"Of course! But... she just kept going on about.. oh never mind." She said shaking her head. Retelling her mother's comments on Sirius was the last thing she wanted to do.

Sirius, as always, could read Adelaide like a book and knew that there was something she was trying to protect him from.

"Alright, well what are you up to tonight? I have to get dressed up in a penguin suit for some stuffy dinner thing with ' _Mr. Riddle_ '" he said with a spot on imitation of his mother. "I swear she fancies that man. Personally he gives me the creeps." He said with a shiver.

"You'll have to mirror me when you get ready so I can witness you in all your penguin suit glory!" Adelaide laughed before sighing deeply. "I actually should go, we're having dinner with the Avery's tonight and I need to get my own stupid get up on."

"Aw.. well I'll mirror you later if I can. You can help me figure out some ways to prank Kreature." He said with a smirk as Adelaide laughed softly and said goodbye.

She shut the mirror and instantly felt a wave of icy cold dread roll over her. She reluctantly went to the wardrobe and looked through her formal gowns before beginning to get ready for the evening.

At approximately 5:21pm the mirror in Adelaide's gown pocket began to grow hotter and hotter. She pulled it out, locking her door in case her mother came early to find her. "Sirius," she hissed opening the mirror "you know this isn't a very good time.."

"Adelaide?" Said a voice that sounded almost like Sirius, but was a bit higher.

" _Regulus?!_ How-how did you.. Where's Sirius?!"

"He's um... he told me to say your name to this mirror thing before he.. he.. Addy I don't know what to do!"

"What are you talking about?!" Something was _not_ right. Adelaide now noticed the panic in Regulus's eyes. "Where's Sirius?"

"H-he didn't wear the dress robes right .. and then he started getting into a row with mother and-and she... uh.. then he... uh.."

"Reggie. Where is Sirius." Adelaide asked in a terrifyingly severe tone.

"Um ... he passed out.. oh wait he's! Erm..Hang on! Uh..here." Said the younger Black boy. Adelaide could tell that they were in Sirius's room by the Gryffindor banner that flashed into view. Regulus looked like he was fumbling to hand the mirror off.

"Hey Addykins! Well don't you look nice," Sirius croaked with a weary smile, eyes half closed. Adelaide gasped, then touched the image of his face on the mirror. His hair was disheveled, he had a large bruise forming upon right side of his face and his lip was bleeding.

"Sirius!" She exclaimed wide eyed and full worry.

"Aww, no comment on how ugly I look?" He asked with a smirk. A smirk! Only Sirius could possibly make a joke at a time like this! He quickly realized she was not in a joking mood. "I'm okay Addy, really-"

"No he's not! He was just passed out!" An outraged Regulus voiced as Sirius grumbled.

"Really I'm fine now... even better when you consider I don't have to go to the stupid dinner party anymore!" he said unconvincingly. "Oh! And Check out the penguin suit!" He said showing her his sloppy dress robes.

Adelaide shook her head at ability to make light of even the most horrible of situations, "Sirius, you really have to be more caref-"

"ADELAIDE!!" The voice of Cathryn Fawley reverberated through the hall just outside Adelaide's door. "ADELAIDE! COME DOWN HERE AT ONCE!"

"Uh..I have to go.." she whispered quickly. "Reggie, clean up his lip, and make sure he drinks some water and gets some rest." Regulus nodded. "Feel better dog breath." She said with a sad smile as Sirius and Regulus waved goodbye sadly.

She shut the mirror closed and quickly stuffed it back into her pocket (just in case). Adelaide then did what she did best and pushed aside every emotion within her and gracefully made her way down to dinner as if nothing had happened. As if her best friend wasn't laying beaten and bruised in his room in London. As if she actually cared about the pretentious dinner party she was about to attended. As if she really was the perfect Pureblood Princess.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13- A Black Christmas {Part 1}**

It was Christmas Eve, and for once both Sirius and Adelaide were utterly jubilant.

The Fawleys would be spending Christmas Eve and Christmas day at the Blacks at their home at 12 Grimmauld Place. Adelaide wondered why their parents decided to spend the holiday with the other family instead of on their own as they usually did. Her wonderings were answered on the morning of December 24th.

Adelaide was sneaking back up from the kitchen where she enjoyed some pie with Mimsy the house elf when she heard the voices of her parents coming from her fathers study. She creeped just close enough to hear without being spotted, and made sure that she had an empty bedroom nearby that she could duck into if need be.

"Cathryn, I understand your reservations, but there is still time for them to make him understand. He's been hanging about with all those mud-bloods and blood traitors for so long he's simply forgotten the truth," Filip Fawley explained to his wife.

"Filip, you and I both know that it goes deeper than that." Cathryn said cooly.

"Well regardless, we must try. Mr. Riddle believes both boys will become useful assets in the years to come, especially if they take after their father." Filip stated.

Mr. Riddle? The man Sirius said gave him the creeps? What did his opinion have to do with anything? And what did he mean by assets?

Adelaide found this all very strange.

After the conversation moved to more mundane topics, Adelaide made her way back to her emerald and silver bedroom. She double and triple checked to be sure she was all packed And had sufficiently hidden her gift to Sirius in her overnight bag.

At 6pm the family took the floo to 12 Grimmauld Place and were greeted by their gracious hosts.

"Lovely to see you again my dear Cathryn!" Walburga said to the lean woman.

"Ah and same to you!" Cathryn replied with a smile.

"Addy!" Exclaimed a smiling Regulus as he made his way to the girl from the staircase.

"Hey Adelaide!" Sirius said with a wave and smile as well. He knew they were supposed to act like they weren't best friends, but he could still act like he knew her, right?

"Hello." Adelaide said politely to the two boys. "Thank you for having us here Mr. and Mrs. Black. It was very gracious of you to let us spend the holiday with you." Adelaide said kindly to the two adults.

"The pleasure is ours dear." Walburga said with a tone that was _almost_ warm. Sirius made a face and rolled his eyes when no one was looking. Adelaide had to bite her lip not to start laughing. "Now, everyone into the dining room for dinner!"

Adelaide waited for the adults to go ahead so that she could catch up with Regulus and Sirius. She gave Regulus a hug and then moved to give Sirius a large embrace, foolishly not checking to see if any of the adults were looking.

"Adelaide!" Her father scolded. Sirius and the blonde girl instantly jumped apart. Adelaide flushed a bit and looked panicked. "Time for dinner." Her father said with a strange look.

Dinner was wonderful, well the food was wonderful, the conversation was enough to make Adelaide sick.

"It's as if they have no pride for their heritage! Do they not see how breeding with those _filthy muggles_ and _mud-bloods_ will lead to the demise to our way of life!" Orion said passionately slamming his glass of fire whiskey on the wooden table.

"Quite right! They are selfish! Do they not understand the necessity of keeping the bloodlines pure?" Cathryn added.

"Of course not. Ignorance. That's what it is." Filip said cooly, sipping his eggnog.

"Didn't you say they are revising a new ordinance on half-breeds, Filip?" Walburga inquired, taking a swig from her wine goblet.

"Yes. They are going to make it compulsory for all ages... if it passes the wizengamot that is." He replied.

"Those monstrosities deserve nothing but death. We would be much better off without them running amuck!" Walburga said passionately, before taking yet another large gulp from her goblet. "I say we round up the lot of those monsters and just be done with them!" She exclaimed.

This was the moment Sirius lost it.

"You vile woman! You're the monster!" Sirius said standing up from the table, seething, pointing his finger toward the vicious woman who gave birth to him.

"SIT DOWN AND MIND YOUR MANNERS." She boomed.

"NO!" He yelled back before angrily running out of the dining room.

Adelaide sat frozen and quiet as she had been the entire dinner. She chanced a peak at Regulus and he looked slightly frightened. She was thankful that Walburga was either too tipsy or too prideful to punish him right then and there in front of her guests.

After the subject moved on to things like 'which was the best potion for ridding cupboards of doxies' she asked to be excused... leaving Regulus alone.

It was late in the night and Adelaide climbed the stairs to the top most landing where she found two doors. One had a sign that said " _Do Not Enter Without the Express Permission of Regulus Arcturus Blac_ k" and the other simply had a name plate with Sirius's name. She knocked on the door softly. Then waited. After a long moment Sirius opened the door, visibly relieved that it was Adelaide and not someone else.

"Can I come in?" She asked. He gestured for her to walk in. She sat next to him on his bed in the dark room. She noticed the dark velvet curtains and the large Gryffindor banner she had seen through their mirror chats.

"Are you okay?" Adelaide asked hesitantly.

"Yes. Why wouldn't I be?" Sirius said with somewhat of a bite to his words.

"Um.. well you seemed rather upset.. earlier," she said awkwardly.

"Did I? Hm I wasn't sure if you were even listening." Sirius said venomously. He had never spoken to her like that before. He had always been kind to Adelaide, even in the garden when he barely knew a thing about her. Suddenly, he was acting more like she was his enemy and not his best friend.

"What is that supposed to mean?!" She snapped back, hurt by the way he was speaking to her.

Sirius, of course, knew he had hurt her and instantly regretted it. However, he was too upset to apologize at the present time.

"Addy. How can you stand to listen to them talk like that?" He said, teeth gritted, fists clinched, looking down at the rug, trying to calm himself.

"I _can't_! I can't stand it! "

"But you do! You just take it! You just sit and listen to them rant about all this blood status garbage! How can you just sit there when they say werewolves don't even deserve to live! Addy! _Your best friend is a werewolf_! How can you let them talk like that about him?!" Sirius said passionately. He was standing now running his hands through his hair.

"What do you expect me to do Sirius?! Hm?! Fight them!? Do you expect me to just make it easy for them to throw some curses at me?!" She said standing up as well, throwing her hands int he air.

"Yes! That's what I do!" He replied angrily.

"My point exactly!" She scoffed.

"What are you trying to say Adelaide?" Sirius said in a deadly cold voice.

"I'm trying to say that fighting them will only make things worse! You know I hate the stuff they say! I almost lost my shit too when they started talking about 'half-breeds'! But I keep it together. I don't bring unnecessary trouble upon myself."

"You and regulus are two of a kind you know?" Sirius spat with a humorless laugh.

"What is that supposed to mean?!"

"Nothing. Nothing at all Adelaide. You should go to bed before, Merlin forbid, you bring unnecessary trouble upon yourself for fraternizing with a blood traitor. Happy Christmas." He said turning away from her. Again, he instantly regretted what he said when he saw the look of hurt in her eyes.

It was at this point that Adelaide cried for the first time since the day in the garden the summer before her first year. She tried to keep herself together, willing her tears to stay put and not leak unto her face, but it was no use.

"Why are you being so cruel? You're my best friend." She said in a small pleading voice, sniffling as she swiftly wiped the traitorous tears moving down her cheeks.

"I-I.." Sirius started. He didn't know why. He supposed to was because in his mind, by being silent you were in essence agreeing with what they said, but he didn't know why he snapped at Adelaide. She would never believe those things and he knew that. "I'm sorry Addy." He said ashamedly, hanging his head low. "I was just upset. I didn't mean to hurt you.."

Adelaide studied him for a long moment then sat back down on his bed. "You're forgiven you hideous gargoyle." She said softly, peaking up to see the corners of his mouth twitch up at her insult.

"Best friends?" Sirius asked.

"Always."


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14- A Black Christmas {Part 2}**

On Christmas Eve, as Adelaide laid alone in one of the many dark guest rooms of 12 Grimmauld Place, she reflected on her argument... her first _real_ argument with Sirius.

They parted ways on good terms, but she still had a nagging heavy feeling about what Sirius said. She always looked out for herself, she never saw the use in fighting back when her parents went off on their prejudiced tirades. But now, she was friends with muggle-borns like Lily Evans and best friends with a werewolf who was one of the most innocent and kind people she had ever met. She had always focused on what she was fighting _against_ , and hadn't realized until now just how much she had to fight _for_.

Sirius's words cut deep because deep down she knew he was right.

With this new revelation she decided that she would slowly begin to fight back _in her own way._

On Christmas morning, long before anyone would be up, she snuck up the numerous stairs, past the revolting row of shrunken house-elf heads, mounted on the wall on plaques. A shiver went down her spine as she thought of her own sweet Mimsy ending up in a similar fate. It horrified her. However, she shook off these disturbing thoughts and continued on her way.

She came up to the last landing, leaning her ear against Sirius's door and heard the faint sounds of snoring. She slowly opened the door, spying a pillow that had been knocked onto the floor. She picked up the fluffy pillow and smirked mischievously.

"Wake up! Wake up! It's Christmas you lazy dog!" She said while mercilessly whacking the sleeping Sirius with the pillow.

Sirius grumbled some obscene words then suddenly grabbed his own pillow and started to fight back with a smile. The two laughed hard whist playfully battering each other with the fluffy pillows. Their laughter ceased abruptly when they heard someone open the door.

Regulus stood in the doorway, yawning, clumsily trying to wipe the sleep from his eyes with his robe falling off one shoulder and his normally neat hair sticking up in strange places.

"What are you two doing?" He said with his brows furrowed before yawning once again.

"Well _I_ was winning the pillow fight we were having." Said Sirius.

"You were not!" Adelaide exclaimed as Sirius smirked.

The two began to argue over who was actually winning and didn't even notice when little Regulus grabbed two pillows and whacked them simultaneously, giggling.

Both Gryffindors looked at that sneaky little snake completely stunned. "Oh you're going to get it now!" Adelaide said with a grin as she grabbed another pillow and joined Sirius in attacking the youngest giggling Black.

"What in the name of Salazar is going on in here?" Asked a stern voice. All three children instantly dropped their pillows and looked up to the looming figure in the doorway.

It was Adelaide's father Filip Fawley. His tall figure loomed in the faint light of morning. He was dressed in his black velvet night robe, platinum blonde hair neatly combed, and his blue eyes holding an emotion Adelaide couldn't quite place.

"W-we were just...um.." stammered Regulus, looking remarkably akin to a frightened rabbit.

"We were only...uh..." Sirius started, thinking hard for a good excuse.

"I came to wake up the boys and thought it would be funny to have a pillow fight, sir." Adelaide said softly, her head hanging low.

"Well, it's time you two," he said looking at the two brothers, "get washed up for breakfast." He said calmly. "Adelaide come with me, I would like to speak with you." He said to the platinum blonde girl as her eyes grew wide with worry. She followed him out the door and spared a look at Sirius who mouthed 'it will be okay'.

Her father lead her down to the empty drawing room and they sat down upon one of the Blacks' dark couches. It seemed that the other parents were still upstairs getting ready.

"Adelaide I want you to be honest with me." Her father began calmly, yet with a deadly serious tone. "Are you and Sirius friends at school?" He asked.

Adelaide's face paled and she looked to her father with wide forest green eyes.

She couldn't find her voice, so her father continued, "Adelaide, you will not be punished if the answer is yes, but I need to know."

"Yes." She said softly. "He's my best friend." She added in almost a whisper. She felt her throat constricting with anxiety.

Mr. Fawley took in a deep breath then let out a long sigh. "Is there a reason you tried to hide this?" He asked.

"I-I thought you and mother wouldn't approve..." She said softly.

Her father then did something that surprised her. He hugged her. Warm comforting arms wrapped around her. Affection was never a thing given freely in the Fawley home and she savored the moment.

He pulled away with a sad look in his blue eyes. "You were right dear." He said. "You can't be friends with him anymore."

"What?" She said in a stronger voice than before.

"You will not be friends with him anymore. He isn't a good influence on you." Her father said firmly, intimidatingly.

"No." She said somewhat weakly. The delivery wasn't quite as important as the words themselves. This was a battle she was willing to fight.

"Do not talk back to me young lady." He said in a low venomous voice. Mr. Fawley _never_ raised his voice, it wasn't in his character.

"I won't stop being friends with Sirius." She said weakly again, but feeling more confident. "He isn't a bad influence." She said shaking her head. In determination.

"You don't know what you are talking about Adelaide. That boy has dangerous ideas and I will not let him infect you with his radical ways of thinking." He said with an icy tone of voice. "I was lenient when I saw you two yesterday, but after his outburst at dinner I can see he isn't the type of company you should be keeping."

Adelaide was _furious_ at this point and was about to say something that would have surely gotten her either slapped or hexed. However, as fate would have it, the shrill cold voice of Walburga Black reverberated through the home saying that "Breakfast was ready and on the table!" before she had a chance to reply.

Adelaide quickly moved to head toward the dining room but was stopped by a large hand around her wrist. "It's for your own good Adelaide." Her father said in a low voice. "I know it must be difficult to understand, but it is. You will stay away from him or you will be punished."

"What about Regulus?" she said, losing some of her resolve to fight back while in such a vulnerable position.

"I have no problem with Regulus." her father stated simply before letting her go.

She walked to the dining room and sat next to Regulus and across from Sirius. Sirius who had been casually leaning back in his chair, balancing on its back two legs, straighten up as Adelaide joined the table, and sent her a questioning look that she refused to respond to. Sirius could tell that whatever she spoke to her father about had made her both afraid and angry.

When the two family's moved from the breakfast table to the drawing room to open their presents an idea struck Adelaide. An idea that was sure to make her best friend proud and her father furious. She snuck up to her room then returned before anyone noticed holding two neatly wrapped, medium sized boxes. She casually hid them from view and joined in unwrapping her gifts.

Adelaide received many nice gowns and frivolous trinkets from her parents, Regulus received many gifts of a similar nature. Sirius however, received noticeably fewer gifts from his parents than Regulus. While he still had presents from James, Remus, and Peter up in his room to open later, Adelaide felt upset that his parents ostracized him. Now was the time to enact her plan.

"Um, excuse me," She said politely to the group gaining their attention. She proceeded to pull out the two festively wrapped parcels, a warm smile upon her lips.

"Ah, is that Regulus's gift, dear?" Asked Mrs. Fawley.

"Yes, and _this_ is Sirius's." She said grinning and handing them to the two boys. Sirius smiled back unsurely and took the gift.

Filip Fawley's eyes flashed with anger, while the other adults looked at her in horrified bewilderment. Only Filip knew that the two Gryffindors were friends.

Regulus opened his gift first. He carefully opened the box to find a large, navy blue, leather bound book with ornate gold drawings of birds moving about on the cover. The book was titled _"Newt Scamander's Comprehensive Guide to Exotic Magical Fowl"._

"ADDY! THIS IS AMAZING!" Regulus squealed enveloping the girl in a tight hug. "Thank you!"

Sirius opened his gift next. He lifted off the box top to reveal a note atop tissue paper.

 _ **Happy Christmas my frightfully hideous best friend.**_

 _ **Always, Addykins**_

He barked a laugh at the note then looked to see what was underneath.

"Addy you didn't.. There is no way..." He said in disbelief, a look of awe on his face. "HOW?!" He exclaimed waving what looked to be a small piece of paper in his hand. A ticket to be more specific. A ticket to see his favorite _muggle_ band Led Zeppelin live and in concert the following month. "I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! ADDY THIS IS THE ABSOLUTE BEST!" He said basically tacking the girl in a fierce hug. (It should be mentioned that the rest of the box contained various types of dung-bombs, but he knew better than to announce that)

Walburga Black cleared her throat. "Care to share the _happy_ news?" she spat with a look of utter disgust that mirrored Cathryns.

"Addykins got me tickets to see my favorite band." he said shortly to his mother. He turned to the girl as his mother began to shout sour nothings in his general direction "Are you going too?" he asked quietly to the girl.

"Yup," she said popping the 'P'.

Adelaide's eyes moved about the now incensed room and could see the irate look upon her father's face. She knew the cost of this little stunt was high, but looking at Sirius's face, she didn't regret it one bit.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15 - 'Fine'**

 _"Filip, she needs to know right from wrong somehow!" Said Mrs. Fawley._

 _"I agree Cathryn, but using an unforgivable? You mark my words, it will only drive her away." Mr. Fawley said sternly._

 _"My mother used it on me, her mother before that. Children need to know that there are consequences to their actions!" Mrs. Fawley responded emphatically._

 _"She can know there are consequences without having to be tortured, Cathryn." Mr. Fawley said before sighing deeply. "But I can see that your mind will not be changed." He said in resignation._

* * *

"Addy! Finally! I've been trying to get ahold of you for days! Are you okay?!" Sirius exclaimed into the two way mirror. It was the first they had spoken since she left his home in a hurry on Christmas morning.

She didn't answer him. Her eyes looked as if they were recounting some past event... and not a pleasant one.

"Addy. What happened?" Sirius asked more gently.

"He was upset. I've never seen him that upset with me before..." she said dejectedly, eyes looking away from Sirius. "But mother sh-she..." She couldn't finish her sentence. Tears pooled in her eyes as she relived the memory in her mind's eye.

 _"P-please! Mother p-p-please! I'm s-s-sorry!" Adelaide said desperately, sobbing on the floor. "I'll b-be good! P-please!"_

 _"Crucio."_

"Addy? Did you hear what I said?" Sirius asked.

"I'm sorry, what?" She said dazed and confused.

"I asked if you were okay..." he told her slowly.

"I'm fine." She said emotionlessly. Sirius knew she was lying. "Actually, I'm a bit tired, I think I'll take a rest. I'll see you at the train tomorrow, Sirius." She told him again in the emotionless voice, faking a smile before closing the mirror.

Adelaide was many things, but _fine_ was not one of them.

* * *

"ADDY!" Called Mary McDonald from across the platform to the small blonde girl standing with her mother and father. Adelaide shot the girl a look to tell her to stay away. Mary nodded in understanding and boarded the train back to Hogwarts.

"I hope you will be more wise in your future friendships Adelaide." Said the cold voice of her mother.

Her father crouched to meet Adelaide face-to-face. "Stay out of trouble Adelaide." He said softly. Adelaide nodded, a look of fear in her forest green eyes.

There on the platform, in plain sight to all, Filip Fawley hugged his daughter goodbye for the first time. Adelaide was shocked, but like the last time he embraced her, she savored the moment, clutching her father closer. She didn't know why he was hugging her, but she didn't care. She relished any parental affection she could get.

He pulled away from their embrace and put his hands on either side of her arms. "Adelaide, please be good." He said, his cool blue eyes boring into her her own.

She boarded the train soon after, looking for the Marauders and Mary. A small part of Adelaide felt like she was betraying her father by doing so, but she did it anyway.

* * *

"Hi Adelaide, how was your holiday?" Lily Evans asked kindly with a warm smile in the dorm on their first night back at Hogwarts.

"It was fine." Adelaide responded shortly. There was an awkward silence as Adelaide tried to end the conversation before it even really began. She couldn't talk about the events over the holidays without breaking, so she avoided talking altogether if she could help it.

"Oh, well I'm glad, I was a little worried about you, from what you've said about your family and all.." Lily said. Adelaide hummed in acknowledgment then went to bed, hoping her sleep would be a dreamless one. It wasn't.

 _"P-please! I'll be g-good now I p-promise!" She sobbed._

 _"Crucio." Said the cold voice of her mother while her father looked on, emotionless._

 _Pain. Excruciating pain beyond imagination. Her very bones were on fire. She prayed for unconsciousness. She welcomed death. Anything to make the pain stop._

"Adelaide!" a voice whisper shouted beside her, shaking her awake from her dream. She was drenched in sweat, blankets kicked off her bed, and tears falling down her face. Adelaide looked up to the concerned green eyes of of Lily Evans.

"Come with me." Lily said kindly, extending a hand to the distraught girl with tearstained cheeks. Adelaide followed as Lily gave her a glass of water then walked down to the common room. The two second year Gryffindor girls sat together in front of the dying fire, sipping their water in silence for a long while.

"Thank you." Adelaide said quietly to the auburn haired witch.

"You're welcome." Lily said with a warm smile. "Your holiday wasn't ' _fine_ ' was it?" She asked knowingly. Adelaide shook her head, eyes on the dim fire in front of her. "You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to... but it might make you feel better." Lily said. "My best friend Sev, he has a hard home life too. He hates talking about it, but I know it helps." she said.

" _Snivellus_?" Adelaide asked in all seriousness turning to look at the girl beside her. "huh," she said turning away, pondering the idea. Lily had to bite her tongue not to snap at her for that cruel nickname.

Adelaide took a deep breath. "I spent my Christmas at Sirius's house." she began unsurely. "We got into a row after Christmas Eve dinner about me not saying anything when our parents were talking bad about muggles and muggle-borns and wer- ... uh... and other things." she ended awkwardly. "The next morning my father caught me, Sirius, and his little brother having a pillow fight and he- he found out that I was actually friends with Sirius... we act like we aren't around family.. well we did..." she trailed off dolefully. "My father told me that- that I couldn't be friends with Sirius anymore." she said, voice strained, the tears threatening to come back. "I told him no, which only made him more upset." she said with a shiver. All the while, Lily sat patiently listening.

"Things didn't really get bad until I made a point to give Sirius his Christmas present in front of everyone..." Adelaide continued. "He loved it, I got him tickets to see his favorite muggle band," she said with a small smile forming upon her lips as she thought back to her best friend's utter joy. "But, It caused a whole scene. Lots of screaming..." She said, mentally bracing herself to explain what happened next. "We went home right after and I thought it was going to be okay for a while. They sent me to my room to discuss something... but then they called me back downstairs." She said with fear washing over her face. "My father was livid, but my mother... She was crazed." she said in a small voice. It was becoming difficult to speak at this point. "I- I begged her to stop." she said tears beginning to fall. "but she just did it a-again and again," She sobbed. Lily put her arms around the crying girl comfortingly rubbing soothing circles on her back. Adelaide collected herself and continued. "I keep having nightmares. The pain feels so real. I've never felt pain that excruciating." she finished.

"Adelaide, I'm so sorry." Lily said, eyes full of empathy. "I can't even begin to imagine how difficult that must be." she said shaking her head slowly.

"I haven't even told Sirius about the last part.." Adelaide said. Lily looked slightly shocked, those two were inseparable. "I feel like such a baby for crying about it. It's got to be nothing compared to what he's been through. All I did was give him a present, he actually sticks up for muggle-borns and stuff to his mother."

"Does he really?!" Lily asked, astonished. She had always thought he was as arrogant and annoying and cruel as Potter, but maybe he wasn't as bad as she thought if he was willing to be tortured for muggle-borns...

"Mhm.. That's why my father said I couldn't be friends with him anymore." Adelaide said softly. "I haven't told him that part either... I don't want to hurt his feelings."

"Black has feelings?" Lily snorted. Adelaide gave her a dirty look. "Sorry. Force of habit."

"It's fine. Anyway, he said I could be friends with Regulus, just not Sirius."

"Why?" Lily questioned.

"Well because Sirius is a 'Bad influence' with 'dangerous ideas'" she scoffed. "Its ironic really, coming from him." she said with a humorless laugh. "At least now I won't be forced to marry that ugly git." she said smiling slightly to herself. Lily didn't really understand what she was referring to with marrying Sirius, but her comment did remind her of anther question she was curious about.

"There's something I've always been confused about.." Lily started as Adelaide gave her a look to go on. "If Black is your best friend and all, why do you always insult him and say he's ugly? I mean I can hardly stand to be in the same room as him, but even I know he is far from unattractive." Lily finished. Adelaide smirked then let out her first real laugh in ages.

"Ah, well it began as a way to keep his ego in check, but now it's just kind of an inside joke." she said shrugging with a smile. "I can tell he likes it and it's fun to come up with new ways to insult him if I'm being honest... maybe you could help me brainstorm sometime..." she said smirking and bumping shoulders with the grinning Lily.

"Only if we come up with ways to insult Potter too." she said cheekily.

"Deal!" Adelaide giggled.

* * *

"Hey Jamie! Guess what!" Adelaide said cheerfully the next day to James as they walked to the great hall for breakfast.

James looked at the girl who had been so despondent the day before and asked, "What?" With a lopsided smile, pushing up his crooked glasses.

"Lily Evans and I are best friends now." She said smirking as his eyes became wide and he grinned from ear to ear with delight.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16- The Astronomy Tower**

"Hey Addykins! Wait up!" Called Sirius from down the long corridor with a wide smile. Adelaide had been keeping her distance from the grey eyed boy since their return to school a week prior. She slowed her pace so he could catch up to her.

"Hey," She said casually as he took his place walking beside her as they made their way through the snowy transfiguration courtyard.

"You know, we haven't gotten a chance to really talk since.. everything." He said wrapping his scarf tighter around him and pushing his hands in his pockets.

"We're talking now, aren't we?" She said readjusting the strap of her book bag, then playing with a stray thread on her own scarlet and gold scarf.

"Addy. You know what I mean." Sirius said firmly. There was a long pause. "Ads, I know something bad happened... and that you don't want to tell me... But I'm your best-friend! We don't keep secrets from each other!" He said getting slightly worked up.

"Calm down." She said with an eye roll and a forced smile, feigning lightheartedness. "It's not that big of a deal.." she said glancing over to Sirius's unconvinced face. "But I'll tell you... just.. not right now."

"Tonight. We'll grab the cloak from James and go up to the Astronomy tower." Sirius told her. She shrugged in agreement, internally dreading the conversation to come.

* * *

Later that night the two curfew breaking mischief-makers were sitting together in the empty astronomy tower looking out onto the serene landscape in silence. The grounds were illuminated by the bright half-moon above, and the stars stood out brightly against the inky black sky. Sirius loved to look at the twinkling stars and constellations, they had a magic all their own, fascinating him without end. He thought they were beautiful when used to look at them from his home in London at Grimmauld Place. However, here in the Scottish countryside, without the light pollution of the busy city, he found them absolutely breathtaking.

Adelaide, however, did not share his deep affection for the starry sky, and never had. They made her feel overwhelmingly small and insignificant. The idea of the vast black abyss made her feel out of control. She felt as if she would get sucked into the black nothingness above if she looked too long.

 _Sirius focused on the light, while Adelaide was distracted by the dark._

"Addy, what happened?" Sirius asked gently looking up at the sky.

Adelaide looked down to her anxiously fiddling fingers. "You remember how my father asked to talk to me Christmas morning?" She started. Sirius nodded. "Well... he asked me if- if we were friends at school."

"What?! You told him no, right?" Sirius asked. He hoped he was wrong, but he _knew_ Addy, and he _knew_ how much she feared her parents disapproval.

"I told him you were my best friend." She said quietly, peering up to see the shocked look of happiness on her best friend's face. "He said I couldn't be friends with you anymore." She said, causing his face to morph into a frown. "But I told him _no_." The shocked look of joy returned to Sirius's face.

Initially, he was happy that she stood up for him, but then he remembered what happened next in the story.

"... you gave me the present in front of everyone to make a point, didn't you?" Sirius said. He knew the answer already.

"Yes." She said surely.

"Addy you shouldn't have done that—" he started.

"Yes. I should have." She said confidently. "You would have done the same thing." He opened his mouth to protest, but she was right. He would have stuck up for her and their friendship in a heartbeat.

"Addy... what.. what happened after you left?" He asked tentatively.

"I was punished." She said emotionlessly. There was a long pause, Sirius waited for her to explain further, knowing he would most likely not like what he heard.

Adelaide scrunched her eyes shut, trying to be strong. "Mother used a spell on me... well a curse." She said cooly. "It hurt so much Sirius.."

"What spell?" He asked calmly.

" _Crucio_.." she whispered, hiding her face in her hands.

"THEY DID NOT! THAT'S- THAT'S AN UNFORGIVABLE! ADELAIDE THAT SPELL IS ILLEGAL! HOW DARE SHE!" He yelled. He was standing now, practically pulling out his long dark hair in frustration. "You can't go back there Addy. I won't let you." He said determinately while pacing. "We'll talk to Dumbledore! You can stay with James, his parents are so nice! His mum would absolutely adore you! We just have to figure out a way to-" he rambled.

"Sirius stop!" She snapped, cutting him off. Sirius looked at her with confusion. "I have to go back." She said firmly.

"No! You can't Addy!" He pleaded.

"I have to." She said apologetically.

Deep down, Sirius knew she couldn't leave. Not yet anyway.. but he also knew he would stop at nothing to get her out of that house and away from those horrible people. He would do anything to keep her safe.

"This is all my fault." He said miserably, rejoining her on the stone floor of the tower. "If I hadn't said all that stuff the night before-"

Adelaide cut him off. "It was _my_ choice." She said resolutely. "Don't feel guilty. If I had a choice, I'd do it all again." She said.

* * *

The two made their way back into the common room late that evening. They expected it to be empty. They certainly didn't expect to see a Lily Evans patiently awaiting their arrival.

"Ahhh Ginger!" Sirius said dramatically throwing his hands in the air in mock fright. Lily rolled her eyes at the theatrical dark haired boy.

"Did you tell him?" Lily asked Adelaide as she nodded. "Good. Now, you two should get to bed. We have class tomorrow." Lily said. Sirius looked perplexed about the whole exchange.

"But-" he began to protest.

"No! You've kept her up past curfew far too long already Black!" Lily told him. Sirius looked a bit off footed by her authoritative tone.

"I'll be up in a bit Lily," Adelaide giggled. Lily went up to bed, casting a narrow eyed glare at Sirius.

"I know you two are friends and all now, but she's a lot scarier than Mary." Sirius said with a shiver as Adelaide smirked.

"G'night you horrid hound!" she said playfully pushing his shoulder then making her way towards the girl's staircase.

"Goodnight Addykins!" he said smiling as he watched her go.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17-EXPECTO PATRONUM**

When Adelaide and the rest of the Marauders returned to the castle after Christmas holidays, they quickly went back to work on perfecting the Patronus charm and the Marauders Map.

The Marauders Map now showed all 7 known secret passages out of the castle as well as all the other tidbits of information that they had accumulated. More importantly, however, Adelaide and Sirius had found a charm that would allow them to see the whereabouts of everyone in the castle! The charm was tricky however, and Adelaide would need to be the one to cast it, considering charms (bar the Patronus) were sort of her thing.

As for the Patronus Charm, they were all making some great headway. Sirius had produced a nearly corporeal Patronus of his shaggy dog, James had cast something that resembled antlers, Peter produced something that looked a lot like a worm, and Remus swore he saw the face of a wolf in his silver wispies and declined to take part in the project anymore.

This left Adelaide without the faintest idea of what her Patronus would take the form of. As she sat in the boys dorm in early February, filled with pure curiosity, she felt more determined than ever to cast the stupid spell.

"Ads. I bet you 10 sickles it's a cat." Sirius said.

"You hate cats." She responded.

"Exactly." He smirked. Adelaide whacked him upside the head. "Ouch!"

"You had that one coming, Mate," James shrugged.

"I refuse to be a cat." Adelaide proclaimed stubbornly.

"You don't really have much of a choice Ads." Remus said with an amused smile. "Unless you fall in love with someone that is..."

"What?" She asked confused.

"Well erm.. strong feelings can influence what form it takes. So, say your Patronus is a cat, and then you fall in love with.. oh I dunno someone whose Patronus is a turtle or something, then yours could change to a turtle as well... or theirs could turn into a cat... not sure how it works exactly." Remus explained.

"Huh, interesting. So let's say, theoretically, my Patronus is a cat. If by some tragic twist of fate Sirius falls for me, his could turn into a cat too?" Adelaide questioned with a wide smirk. Sirius's horrified face paled at the thought. Adelaide then began laughing so hard that tears streamed down her face.

"y-your face!" she said gasping for breath between laughs, "It was _priceless_!" She cackled for roughly 10 more minutes, much to Sirius's chagrin.

* * *

It was a particularly rainy Saturday evening in mid-march and the group of five had barricaded themselves in the boys dorm for a majority of the day. They briefly left to prank Snivellus, charming his hair bubblegum pink, but soon returned to their work on the Patronus Charm.

" _EXPECTO PATRONUM_!" Sirius said. At that moment a bright luminescent form of a shaggy dog ran around him and through the others. They were mesmerized. He was the first to cast a corporeal Patronus... at only 13 years old.

"Okay! I want to go now!" James exclaimed. Just like Sirius, he said the incantation, waving his wand in the proper movements and from it came the bright figure of a rather large stag, with its head held high, walking confidently around the room.

"Hey buddy, watch the prongs!" Adelaide laughed as the silvery white stags antlers wafted through her face.

"Prongs?" Sirius said, tilting his head to the side. "I like it."

"huh?" questioned Adelaide.

"Prongs! That's James's new nickname!" Sirius said happily. James shrugged with a smile then looked back at the majestic stag.

"Addy! You need to try!" James said excitedly.

"Umm... Why don't we let Peter go next." She suggested, sending a smile to the blonde boy. "You'll do great Pete!" she said reassuringly to the boy.

"oh alright," Peter said putting down his chocolate frogs and standing up to cast the charm. " _EXPECTO PATRONUM_!" he said loudly with a smile, recalling his happiest memory.

A small rat with a long hairless tail scurried through the air.

"Oh! It wasn't a worm after all! It was a tail!" Remus exclaimed, startlingly Peter and making the rat disappear.

James snorted. "a wormtail..." he said cheekily. A moment later his eyes lit up. "WORMTAIL!" he shouted. "THAT'S YOUR NAME NOW!" James was now jumping up and down excitedly, grinning and pointing at Peter, who didn't seem to be all that fond of the name.

"umm.. I guess that works," He said smiling at the excited messy haired boy.

"Okay Addy, it's your time to shine!" Sirius said to the small platinum blonde girl.

Adelaide stood raising her wand. She thought back to the face Sirius made when she told him his patronus could turn into a cat, smiling involuntarily at the memory, opened her eyes and said the incantation.

"I KNEW IT! I KNEW IT! I TOTALY CALLED IT!" Shrieked Sirius as the others cheered.

Adelaide looked with a face of pure joy as a large fluffy Norwegian Forest Cat lazily sauntered between the boys.

"Aww look at the little tufts on its ears!" Remus gushed as the cat moved closer to him.

"TUFTS!" Sirius screamed, ruining Adelaide's focus. "THAT'S YOURE NICKNAME!"

"uuuraggghhh! Can you please stop screaming you Padfooted Idiot!" Adelaide said grumpily.

"Padfoot?" Peter questioned.

"Dogs have those little pads on their feet." Adelaide informed him quickly, then turning back to glare at the annoying curly haired boy.

"PADFOOT!" James bellowed.

"Not you too! Please you're giving me a headache!" Adelaide whined.

"No! That's Sirius's nickname!" James said happily as Adelaide rolled her eyes and Sirius grinned.

"What about Remus?" asked Peter.

"Oh that's easy." Sirius said with a smirk, "Moony. You know because of the whole moon thing."

Remus put on his signature scrunched up thinking face. "I suppose it'll do." he said finally.

* * *

"Excuse me _Tufts_ , could you please pass the broccoli?" James said obnoxiously from across the table at dinner the next night.

"Why yes of course my _deer Prongs_!" she replied with a smirk, passing the aforementioned broccoli. Sirius walked up to the group, sitting beside James and in front of Adelaide.

"Oh _Padfoot_! Lovely of you to join us!" Adelaide said.

"Oh would you all give it a rest!" Remus said grumpily.

" _Moody moony_..." Sirius said under his breath.

"Stop calling me that in public!" Remus scolded. He was touchy about talking about anything werewolf related in public.

"Cheer up mate! At least they don't call you _Wormtail_..." Peter said as Mary McDonald giggled beside him.


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18 - Girls Day**

"TUFTS! Why are you abandoning us!?" James whined one unseasonably chilly morning in early April as they finished their breakfast.

"We have t _he furry little solution_ to work on! And the _you-know-what_! Come on!" Sirius whinged.

"Yeah! Come on Addy! You know that if you're not there we won't get anything done!" Complained Peter. "Besides, only you can charm the m-" his voice was quickly muffled by James's hand while Sirius gave him a look.

"As much as I'm on your side with this Tufts, Wormy's right." Remus said leading peter to give a small proud smile. "We won't get a single useful thing done without you around."

"Oh you all are too dramatic! It's just one day! You'll live!" Adelaide exclaimed getting slightly irritated.

"But _Addykins_!" Sirius whined again, "It's not just _any_ day! It's a _Saturday_! SATURDAYS ARE FOR PLOTTING, PLANNING, SCHEMING AND—"

"Screaming?" Adelaide guessed.

"Well that wasn't what I was going to say... but that works too I suppose." Sirius conceded.

"You ready Ads?" Mary McDonald asked with a cheery smile, joining the conversation.

"You can't have her!" James said childishly with his arms crossed standing between Adelaide and the dark haired witch.

"Oh relax Potter," Mary said playfully. "I'll bring her back safe and sound. I promise." She told the boys with sincere brown eyes.

"What is she going to do with you Tufts?!" Sirius asked worriedly. Mary smiled in amusement while Adelaide became more and more irritated. Mary had always been fascinated by Addy's friendship with the boys. They were so protective of her, understandably given what she went through when she was at home. But Mary found it especially sweet how much Sirius worried about her.

"We're only having a girls day! Would you stop being such a melodramatic poodle?" Adelaide snapped to the curly haired boy.

"Don't call me a poodle you traitorous feline!" Sirius snapped back, trying not to smile when he was supposed to be sulking.

"Just calling them as a see them." She said with a shrug, smirking as she did so. "I'll see you all tomorrow." She told the group of emotional boys. She turned to whisper to Remus, "Moony, can you please make sure they don't do anything stupid.." Remus gave her a look, "Well... not anything _too_ stupid." She corrected.

"I'll do my best Ads," Remus said with a chuckle, then turning to see the other three boys begging Mary to let Adelaide hang out with them instead. He shook his head and tutted. "You'd think she was taking her out of the country or something the way those three go on." He muttered to himself.

* * *

Mary and Adelaide had planned out a whole day of 'Best Friend Bonding Activities' including painting their nails, doing makeovers, gossiping, playing truth or dare, and eating copious amounts of sweets. Mary had also planned a 'surprise activity' that Adelaide was dying to figure out.

Mary grew up with two sisters, much older than her, named Martha and Madeline who went to Beauxbatons Academy of Magic in France. Mary had never been able to do all the cheesy girly things with anyone before. She had tried to convince her dorm mates before she was friends with Adelaide, but they never really got into it. Adelaide, on the other hand, was giddy about the idea. Lily was her best friend as well now, but Mary was like the sister she had never had. Between her and the Marauders, they were more like family than her own blood.

Adelaide loved all the time she spent with the boys, but it was still nice to have time with her girl friends. Between working so hard on the potion for the Animagus transformation, trying to come up with a security charm for the map, and also feebly trying to keep up with her studies, she was with the boys literally all the time. James even had his mum send a sleeping bag so she could sleep in his bed whenever she was too tired to go back up to her own room.

"Oh this is going to be great!" Squealed Mary. "Okay first things first, we need to do each others nails." She said decidedly.

"Whatever you say Mar!" Adelaide giggled at Mary's surprisingly serious tone.

Mary began to paint Adelaide's fingernails a pretty pink color as they listened to Lily's record of the Beatles, sitting on Mary's squishy bed. "So Ads, do you think James is ever going to stop tormenting Lily?" Mary asked.

Adelaide laughed, slightly messing up Mary's artwork. She smiled sheepishly and muttered a 'sorry' then answered. "Honestly I don't think so. He's just absolutely smitten." She said with a smile. "You know he offered to carry her over all the puddles on campus the other day on his broom?" She said.

"Doesn't even surprise me at this point," Mary laughed shaking her head at James's dramatic ways.

"Ah, one day I hope I find a boy who is willing to fly me over puddles.." Adelaide sighed jokingly with a grin.

"Ads, you already do." Mary pointed out.

"If you mean Pro- I mean James, he is far too concerned with Lily's wellbeing to fly me over puddles. He would more likely push me into one if I'm being honest." Adelaide said.

"Didn't he actually do that last week?" Mary asked.

"No no no, that was a fountain. Very different." Adelaide informed her.

"Oh yeah... I remember... you had algae in your hair all through History of Magic. That class was so boring I swear, it was the only thing I could focus on." Mary groaned at the thought. "But Potter wasn't who I was referring to.." she said with a smirk.

"Huh?"

"I'm sure if you told Sirius you wanted him to fly you to care of magical creatures on Monday, he would do so in a heartbeat." Mary said grinning.

"Well duh." Adelaide responded. "He's my best friend."

"So are Remus, James and Peter, but they certainly wouldn't go through such lengths for you..." Mary smirked looking knowingly.

"If you are insinuating what I think you are, you can just stop it right now." Adelaide said rolling her eyes. "It's different with Sirius, but not like _that_."

"If you say so," Mary shrugged, not convinced at all. "You know him better than I do, but all I'm saying is he is definitely sweet on you." She said teasingly. "Him and Regulus both."

"Nah, Reggie is like my little brother," she said dismissively.

"Whatever you say Addy..."

* * *

"Mary I don't think this was well thought out." Adelaide said looking rather green upon her broomstick.

"I told you not to eat so many Fudge Flies! But did you listen to me? Nooooo..." Mary called out.

"Why are we doing this anyway!?" Adelaide asked.

"It's supposed to be fun Addy! You love flying! Which is why you need to try out for the team next year..." Mary said earning an expected groan of exasperation from her green and queasy friend.

"Uaaagggghhhh! I told you I wasn't going to try out Mary!"

"But you love Quidditch!" Mary exclaimed incredulously.

"Not as much as you and James. Why don't you try out! Then the two of you can be obsessed about it together!" Adelaide said annoyed, trying not to be sick as she chanced a loop.

"You and I both know that you are a better flyer than I am." Mary said rolling her eyes at the friend who can manage an advanced loop even when she's sick to her stomach. "I'm much too competitive to let them take me over you." She stated.

"Whatever. Can we be done now?" Adelaide said looking more pale than green at this point.

"Oh fine!" Mary conceded as they landed back on the ground.

Mary thought that Adelaide was just sick from eating too many sweets earlier, but now she could tell that she was looking really ill. She was dizzy, her head was burning up, and she had broke out into a cold sweat.

"Mary I don't feel well." Adelaide said in a small voice, stumbling as she tried to walk. Mary helped her up, internally panicking.

Mary was on her way to take Adelaide to the hospital wing when they came across a certain group of boys.

"Oh Adelaide! Finally changed your mind?!" Teased Sirius from a far with a smirk. His face quickly turned into a look of distraught worry as she came closer into view. "Addy! Mary what's wrong with her!?" Sirius demanded.

"We went to go flying and I thought she was just queasy from eating too many sweets, but then when we got down I realized it had to be something else! I-I was trying to take her to see Madam Pomfrey."

"Here, let us help." James said to Mary. "Remmy, you run ahead and let Poppy know, Peter, take the brooms up to the tower. Mary, you can come with us, Poppy will need to know what happened and everything she ate today." Mary stood still for a moment, shocked by his mature demeanor, but then managed a nod.

"Sirius?" Adelaide said in a small tired voice to the raven haired boy. "Sirius, I don't feel well." She said shaking her head slightly, eyes closed.

"I know, I know, love. We have to get you to see Poppy." Sirius said coming to her side. "Can you walk?" He asked.

"Of course I can walk you ugly git..." she said weakly, taking a slow wobbly step. "See?" She said giving a grin, her face still pale, her skin burning.

"Please don't puke on me okay?" Sirius asked.

"Whaa-?" She started as Sirius scooped her up in his arms bridal style and quickly walked toward the infirmary with James and Mary at his heels.

" _Not a broom... but at least I was close..._ " Mary said under her breath.


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19-Can't Have You Dying On Us Now**

Adelaide was awake, but just barely. She could hardly tell what was going on. She was laying in a bed in a very bright white room, she felt like death itself, and felt far too weak to even open her eyes, let alone say anything.

She heard bits and pieces of a conversation going on beside her.

"I t-told you she w-was fine this morning!" a girl sobbed. "W-we were in the dorm, I p-painted her n-nails and we ate sweets and talked. W-we went-t to go fly and then she started to f-feel nauseous.. One second sh-she was f-f-fine and then she-she just wasn't! I d-didnt-t m-m-mean for t-t-this—" she said finally dissolving into tears.

"No one blames you Mary." Said a comforting voice Adelaide recognized as Remus.

"Poppy, do you know what's wrong with her?" James asked calmly.

"I've taken some tests just to be sure, but I believe she has one of the magical strains of flu going around. Although, I will admit her's is the most severe case I have encountered so far... I've given her some potions to ease her symptoms, but other than that she needs rest." Poppy told the people nearby. "I will also need to contact her parents to notify them of her condition. They may need to take her to Saint Mungos.."

Adelaide mustered all the strength she had to open her eyes and protest. "No." she said in a small voice.

"Addy!" Said Sirius pushing past Poppy to kneel beside her bed. "You can't owl her parents!" he said desperately, turning to the healer. "That will only stress her out more!" He said pitifully.

"I'm sorry Mr. Black, but it's school policy tha-"

"I don't bloody well care about school policy! You can't owl them!" He lashed out at the woman.

"Sirius..." Adelaide said. She wanted to tell him to stop yapping like an annoying Chihuahua, but she fell asleep before she could get to that part.

* * *

Adelaide awoke feeling less like she was going to die at any moment, but only by a bit. She opened her eyes and saw that she was still in the infirmary, but it was much darker than before. she turned her head slightly to see Sirius arguing with Poppy. 'Typical' she thought to herself.

"I don't care. I'm not leaving her like this." said Sirius firmly, crossing his arms.

"Leaving me like what?" Adelaide asked softly.

"Addy!" he said turning to face her with a wide grin.

"Move aside, move aside Mr. Black!" Poppy said shooing the boy away. Poppy gave Addy a few different potions to drink and asked her and exhausting amount of questions.

"She's tired. Can't you ask those questions later?" Sirius asked the Matron.

"Mr. Black, unless you would like to take over my position as healer, I would ask that you please let me do my job." she snapped.

"All I'm saying is I know Addy, and I know when she's being too polite to stick up for herself." He said, grey eyes boring into the older woman. Madam Pomfrey sighed in defeat. The rest of the questions would have to wait until morning.

"Very well. You may stay here tonight in the other bed beside her, but _only you_. Do you understand?" She said giving Sirius a stern look as he grinned and nodded. "I don't want that whole hoard of mischief makers coming in here and causing a ruckus."

"You have my word Poppy that no ruckus will be had here by any mischievous hoards of mischief makers." he said solemnly. This made Adelaide giggle softly. He glanced over to give her a wink.

"While you're here, be sure she takes these two vials at 3am." Poppy said to the boy, who nodded enthusiastically with a 'yes ma'am', before leaving the room.

"Thanks Sirius." Addy said. She still looked so frail and sickly in her hospital bed.

"Can't have you dying on us now can we?" he said, only half-joking. "Addy you should go back to sleep." he said fluffing her pillow.

"Did... Did poppy tell my parents?" she asked softly, having a hard time staying awake.

"No. She sent me to see Dumbledore since I yelled at her, I explained everything to him and he said that they could make an exception." He told her, taking a seat in the chair beside her.

Her eyebrows shot up. "D-dumbledore?! Did... did you tell him _everything_?" She asked.

Sirius hesitated. "I told him everything about your parents." he said tentatively. "I know you didn't want me to Addy, but he just asked all these questions and... it was like he could read my mind! Actually I think he was. I'm not as good as Regulus when it comes occlumency, but I can tell when someones fishing around in my head." He said shaking his head. "He said he would look out for you though... and that there would be help for you if you ever needed it."

"good ol' Dumbles..." Addy said with a yawn closing her eyes... then falling asleep.

Sirius smiled at her then climbed into the other bed beside her, never quite falling all the way asleep.

At 3am he hesitantly got up and tried to wake her up. "Addy... Addykins... you have to wake up Tufts... I have to give you some nasty stuff that will make you feel less miserable..." he said.

"Mmmph.." she grumbled unintelligibly, scrunching up her nose in annoyance.

"Addy. Come on. Wake up!" He said gently shaking her.

"S-Sirius?" She said opening her eyes.

"Yep. Here take this." He helped her sit up and handed her the first vile.

"Ackkkk! That's disgusting!" She said grimacing, eyes only half open. He handed her the next vial with an apologetic smile. "Iiiilllkk! That's worse." She said shoving the empty viles away and trying to go back to sleep.

"Paddy... " she said softly after a moment. Her eyes were closed and Sirius was sure she had fallen asleep again. "Would you... fly me over a puddle?" She asked, eyes still closed.

"What?" He asked with a laugh.

"If I asked... would you fly me... over a puddle... on a broom?" She asked again, snuggling deeper into her hospital blankets.

"Of Course... I'd do anything for you Addykins." He said truthfully looking at the platinum blonde girl who was now smiling in her sleep.

* * *

Adelaide awoke Sunday morning to the overwhelming scent of flowers. She opened her eyes to reveal a large bouquet of wild flowers within a glass vase, several boxes of sweets, a purple plush pigmy puff, and some 'get well soon cards' that she assumed were from her friends.

She sat up, feeling achey and weak, but a much better than the day before, and saw Sirius sleeping on top of the bed beside her. She smirked and thew the pigmy puff plushie straight at Sirius's face with deadly accuracy.

"Uuurahhhgg!" he grumbled. He opened his eyes and shot out of bed quickly calling for Poppy. "Addy! You're up! You look so much better already!" he said relieved. Madam Pomfrey came up bounding towards her, robes billowing behind her carrying more potion vials.

"Oh please! no more of that.." Adelaide begged to the woman.

"I'm afraid you will need to take 'more of that'. Its the only reason you are up this morning." she informed the grimacing girl. "But you can wait until you've had some breakfast. I believe your hoard of mischief makers said something about Miss Evans bringing it up to you." she told her.

"Oh yeah, I think James was going to help..." Sirius said with a smirk, looking to Addy.

"Hmm. well Mr. Black, I'm assuming you are going to be staying here?" He nodded. "Well, will you please make sure she drinks _all four_ vials when she has finished eating?"

"Sure thing Poppy!" He said giving her a salute before she walked away exasperatedly.

"I don't think Poppy likes you all that much Paddy," Adelaide giggled.

"Nah, she does." he said grinning. "How are you feeling Ads?"

"Awful. But not as awful as yesterday." she shrugged.

"Yeah you were pretty out of it, I think you were talking to me in your sleep..."

"What?" She laughed. "Really?"

"Yes really! You kept asking if I would 'fly you over a puddle' or something." he said laughing.

"What's this I hear about puddles?" Said the voice of Mary McDonald.

"MARY!" Adelaide cheered happily upon seeing the dark haired girl walk towards her holding a tray of food.

"Here's your breakfast Miss Fawley!" She said putting the tray in her lap. "Lily was supposed to bring it, but she got bombarded by James giving her a bunch of flowers again and had to go try to get the petals out of her hair." she said with a shrug. "Remus is bringing your food Sirius." she told the boy who was hungrily eyeing Adelaide's pancakes.

"Here, you can have these, I'm not going to eat them anyway." Adelaide told Sirius handing him the plate of pancakes.

"Thanks Ads!" He exclaimed, cheerfully devouring the food in delight.

Mary leaned closer to Adelaide, whispering so Sirius couldn't here. "Now what's all this about you asking him fly you over puddles?" She asked with a smirk.

"Not now Mary." Adelaide groaned rolling her eyes as the dark haired girl laughed loudly.


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20- Expedite The Process of Communication**

"I know you're an idiot, but come on Pads! Even you aren't daft enough to support _them_!" James said flailing his arms in the air from his wooden chair.

"I'm telling you that the _Chudley Cannons_ were just having an off year!" Sirius defended grumpily from his seat upon the extra bed, grabbing yet another fudge fly right out of Peter's hands.

"Sirius, last year they literally changed their official motto from ' _We shall conquer!'_ to _'Let's all just keep our fingers crossed and hope for the best'_." Remus said looking up from his book.

"Yeah... what Moony said," agreed Peter, scooting out of reach of Sirius in case he stole another candy out of his hands.

"Addykins, you're on my side right?" Sirius asked desperately.

"hmmmm?" hummed Adelaide with her eyes shut laying in her hospital bed.

"Tufts can't help you Padfoot. She's sleeping." James pointed out.

"She wouldn't help you even if she was awake. Her favorite team is the _Hollyhead Harpies_." Remus said with a smirk while Sirius sulked.

About this time a flustered dark haired boy ran into the infirmary with a bouquet of lilacs clutched in his hand. "ADDY! I FOUND YOUR FAVORITE FLOWERS!" the boy called, out of breath.

"Reg! She's _sleeping_!" Sirius scolded the boy.

"Oh. Well, when will she be up again?" He asked, still trying to catch his breath as he sat next to his brother.

"Dunno, but Poppy's coming back at dinner." James informed the boy. "Want a chocolate frog, Reg?"

"Oh, yeah sure." He said looking disappointed, but accepting the chocolate frog. "It's been a week. Shouldn't she be better by now?"

The Gryffindor boys shared a look. They were all thinking the same thing. After Adelaide literally came down from her broom with the sudden illness, her health hadn't improved all that much. Poppy had done a fantastic job of giving her enough different remedies that she didn't feel too much discomfort, but it seemed that she was beginning to become immune to their effects.

"She should be." Sirius said sadly.

Sirius had been by her side nearly every moment of the past week. Poppy gave up on keeping the other Marauders out on the third night when they snuck in under the invisibility cloak. Adelaide slept most of the time, but was happy to have her best friends by her side whenever she woke up.. except when Lily and Remus tried to make her do homework. She especially thought it was sweet how Regulus would skip his study hall to bring Merlin, the vibrantly green bird, and hang out with her.

The five boys looked up with confused expressions as Headmaster Dumbledore walked into the infirmary with a strange look upon his face. He walked straight toward the boys huddled around the sleeping girl, his deep blue robes gently breezing behind him.

"Um hello Professor... uhh.. Lemon drop?" Remus asked awkwardly, offering the old bearded man a bag of lemon candies.

"Oh yes! Thank you Mr. Lupin," Dumbledore said kindly taking the candy with long wrinkly fingers and popping it in to his mouth. "Delightful. Simply delightful." he said to himself.

James cleared his throat. "um, Professor... Can we help you?" He asked.

"Yes and no. I came to speak to Mr. Black and Miss Fawley..." He trailed off looking at the sickly blonde girl who was slightly snoring with a plush purple pigmy puff clutched to her chest.

"Um.. should I wake her then?" Sirius asked. He and Lily were the only ones who had been successful in waking the girl. Dumbledore nodded gravely. "Addy.. Addykins... " He went on, lightly shaking her awake.

"Paddy. Stop. Shaking. Me. I will intentionally throw up on you, I swear." she said grouchily sitting up. "Oh!" she exclaimed upon seeing the headmaster. "Um Hi.." she said awkwardly, looking down at the plushy in her arms in confusion before knocking it onto the floor.

Dumbledore smiled kindly. "Um.. should we leave orrrr..." James asked.

"I believe the information I share will inevitably be given to you anyway, so you staying will only expedite the process of communication." He said calmly. All but Peter, who looked a little confused, shrugged in agreement. "Mister Black. After our conversation I believe it would only be right to inform you and Miss Fawley that her parents have been contacted and will be arriving to take her to Saint Mungos." He said with an apologetic look.

Sirius looked at the man with wide grey eyes. "NO! But- But you said you wouldn't! You said there could be an exception!" he said incredulously. "You know what they did to her! You can't let her go with them! You can't..." Dumbledore raised his hand to silence the boy.

"Mister Black, I know what I said. I told you that so long as her health improves, we could make an exception and delay notifying her parents. But as it stands, she has not improved. You of all people should know that." he said giving him a look from above his half-moon spectacles. "Her parents will be here before dinner this evening."

Sirius thought on this for a moment. Dumbledore was right, she needed more help than Poppy was equipped to give her. "Well I'm going too." Sirius said surely.

Everyone in the room looked shocked by this pronouncement except Dumbledore. However, instead of refuting the boy, he merely nodded thoughtfully and left the room.

"When did you talk to Dumbledore? And why can't Addy go with her parents?!" Regulus asked.

"Ads, you didn't tell him?" Sirius whispered to the girl who gave a sheepish look and shook her head.

"I'm sitting right next to you Siri! I can still hear you if you whisper! What didn't she tell me?" Regulus asked, feeling more and more annoyed from being left out of the loop.

"Do you want me to tell him?" Sirius asked the girl. She looked conflicted, forest green eyes darting between Regulus and Sirius.

"Yes." She said softly.

Sirius nodded, then took a deep breath. "Reg. You know how mum sometimes gets mad at us- erm well... me?" He said to the boy. Regulus nodded. How could he forget? "Well Addy's parents got really mad when she gave me that gift at Christmas. They... they..." he closed his eyes. "Her mum used The Cruciatus Curse on her Reg."

"No! No they-they wouldn't!" He exclaimed. "Not on _her_! Not for something like _that_! You're lying! Addy tell me he's lying!" The boy said with tears threatening to spill in his eyes.

"He's not lying Reggie. I didn't want you to worry." She said in a soft voice.

"Why?! Sirius why would they do that?!" He asked his brother.

"They're just like mum and dad Reg. Her dad found out she was friends with me, a blood traitor, and they freaked out because she gave me the present." He told his brother. Part of him hoped this would be enough to turn Regulus away from his parents, but he didn't dare get his hopes too high.

"Our parents aren't like that! They've _never_ used that on us Sirius! They love us!" Regulus said desperately, almost as if he was trying to convince himself it was true.

Sirius scoffed. "They love _you_. They couldn't care less about me."

"Because you always do things to make them mad!" Regulus said standing up. "If you just... just stayed out of trouble maybe they wouldn't be so hard on you!"

"Regulus, I don't want them to like me. I don't want to be anything like them. They are bad people."

"They are not!" Regulus shouted.

"Guys... I don't mean to pry into whatever issues you two are trying to work through, but I think you're stressing Addy out." Remus's said tentatively, looking over at Adelaide who looked about ready to cry.. or sneeze.. it was hard for him to tell the difference sometimes.

"And giving us all a head ache.." James grumbled.

"Well I'm not leaving." Sirius said stubbornly, sitting on the bed he had claimed as his own that past week, with arms crossed over his chest.

"Fine. Addy, get better okay?" Regulus said sweetly to the girl, who gave him a smile and a nod, before walking out of the infirmary in considerably lower spirits than he entered with.

Eventually, each of the other boys trickled out of the room for various reasons. James had Quidditch practice, Remus told Mary he would help her with Potions, and Peter went to... well no one really knew, nor really cared all that much about where peter went. Though, he probably went to bug Frank Longbottom to play chess with him.

This left Sirius and Addy alone in the hospital wing to sit and await her lovely parents.

"Are you really going to try to come with me?" Adelaide asked the boy.

"Well of course. What are they going to do? Hex me in the middle of Saint Mungo's?" He laughed.

"I guess you're right." She shrugged then yawned.

"Get some rest Ads." He said to the girl handing her the purple pigmy Puff plushy with a smirk.

"Ugghhh! Stop trying to make me snuggle with Dorris!" She said exasperatedly swatting the fluffy plushy out of his hands.

"You've named it now. You can't get rid of it." He said smugly. "Look at its cute little face Ads!" He said picking it up off the floor and putting it into her face " _Addy! Love me! I'm purple!_ " He said in a silly high pitched voice, using her favorite color against her.

"Stop it!" She said pushing it away from her. "You're so annoying!"

" _But Addykins! You love me!_ " 'Dorris' continued, sounding sadder this time.

Adelaide looked at the stupid stuffed toy... then at Sirius's amused face. "Okay fine, hand it over." She said rolling her eyes.

" _Oh addy! I knew you loved me!"_ Sirius said in the same silly voice tossing Dorris to her.

"Yeah yeah yeah, just don't tell anyone okay Dorris?" She said smiling and giving a wink to Sirius, then snuggling and falling asleep once again.

Her parents would be there soon and she still felt terrible. But for now, she had Dorris and her ridiculous best friend and she was happy.


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21- Saint Mungo's**

Adelaide's parents arrived precisely on time Saturday evening via the floo of Dumbledore's office. The old and spritely wizard quickly led them to the hospital wing infirmary where their daughter was curled up next to a rather fluffy purple stuffed animal.

"Why is _he_ here." Cathryn Fawley spat. Her cold shrill voice was practically oozing with venom and contempt for the curly haired boy laying atop the next bed.

Sirius awoke from his peaceful nap to a much less serene sight. Standing next to the great bearded headmaster were two older adults, both dressed in fine black robes with looks of disapproval stitched upon their faces.

"As I told you before Mrs Fawley, young Mr Black has been instrumental in the care of your daughter since she became ill." Dumbledore said in a calm, almost innocent voice.

Cathryn Fawley assumed that he was referring to Regulus when he mentioned this information in his letter. Filip Fawley, however, knew better.

"Why was a _child_ allowed to administer care to my daughter? Don't you have staff for those types of things?" Cathryn said in a would-be-polite voice, if it weren't for the fury blazing in her hazel green eyes.

"I'm not a child! I'm thirteen, thank you very much." Grumbled Sirius, causing Dumbledore to smile just slightly.

"We certainly have staff!" Said Poppy, bursting into the conversation with two detestable potion vials in her hands.

"Oh Poppy, you're going to put Addy in a bad mood with those if you don't have some pumpkin juice for her to chase them down with." Sirius told the flustered healer with a smirk.

"I'm _well_ aware. Why don't you go fetch them from the office for me Mr Black." She told the boy who was all too eager to help.

"Hmmm.. and you say that the boy has been by her side the whole week?" Mr. Fawley asked the headmaster.

"Yes, yes. Very precocious boy, severely lacking in manners..." Madam Pomfrey answered for the headmaster, "but an immense help. I swear he knows that girl better than himself." She said chuckling softly as she looked at the small girl. "Between him and his hoard of mischief makers, she has been very well taken care of."

"Hoard of mischief makers?" Mrs Fawley repeated incredulously.

"Oh I'm sure Adelaide's told you all about them. She and those boys are inseparable I tell you. They must have been here earlier by the look of it..." Madam Pomfrey said giving a disapproving look at the candy wrappers and half eaten jelly beans strewn across the floor. "But the boy's brother comes often as well. Always brings her flowers. It's very sweet." She told them with a smile. The last bit seemed to calm the angry Mrs Fawley by a fraction.

"Here you go!" Sirius said re-entering the room, placing the bottle of pumpkin juice on the table beside Adelaide. "You probably should get some more, this was the only one I could find." He told Poppy. "Do you want me to wake her up?" He asked.

"Well I don't see Miss Evans coming anytime soon!" She said with a laugh as Sirius smirked.

"Addy... Addykins..." he said, gently shaking her awake.

"Padfoot. For the last time. Stop. Shaking. Me. Awake." She said grumpily, peaking her eyes open and throwing Doris at him.

Mr and Mrs Fawley looked confused.

"This is normal.. better than normal actually.." Madam Pomfrey informed them quietly, referring to their daughter's temperamental nature upon waking.

"Ads. Um. You have visitors..." Sirius whispered to his half-asleep best friend.

"Whaa?" She said turning over in her bed. She reflexively hid under the covers when she saw the headmaster, her parents, and Poppy staring at her. "Oh... um hello." She said, peaking out. It was now apparent that she had dark purple circles under her eyes, a pale and sickly tinge to her face, and a feebleness in her movements.

Madam Pomfrey wasted no time at all. She hurriedly gave the girl pepper-up potion and something for motion sickness so that she could handle the portkey ride to Saint Mungo's. "All ready to go now I suppose." She said handing the grimacing girl the bottle of pumpkin juice.

"When do we leave?" Asked Sirius.

" _We_?!" Exclaimed Mrs Fawley. Sirius gave Dumbledore a look.

"It is my opinion, and the opinion of Madam Pomfrey, that Mr. Black should accompany Miss Fawley." Dumbledore said kindly.

Mrs Fawley was outraged. "Absolutely not! I won't have a- a Bloo-"

"He may come." Mr Fawley said impassively, cutting off his blithering wife.

"Filip!" She exclaimed to her husband who gave her a look that seemed to communicate something no one else understood.

"He may come with us." He said finally.

Upon their arrival at Saint Mungo's, Adelaide was admitted and placed into a private room on the second floor for the treatment of 'magical bugs'. Her parents, not to be thought cheap in any way, insisted upon the nicest room available. There was a large squashy chair beside her bed, and across the room was a table and chairs, and a large couch. The large windows were framed by billowy white curtains and the floor adorned with a soft white shag rug.

Sirius took up residence upon the large squashy chair like a moth to a flame.

"Ads," Sirius whispered once they were settled, "do they always look like that?" he asked looking at her parents sitting at the table. Her mother was flipping through a copy of Witch Weekly, while her father read through different reports for work.

"Do they always look like what?" she asked.

"Like they just smelled something particularly terrible." he said with all sincerity. Adelaide snorted a laugh. It was a very keen observation.

There was a soft knock on the door announcing the arrival of the healer. She was an older witch with grey hair twisted up neatly, wearing lime-green robes with an emblem embroidered on her chest: a wand and bone, crossed. "Ah! You must be little miss Adelaide! My name is Healer Oystein," She said kindly to the girl with a jolly smile. "And.. who are you young man?" She asked curiously.

"Sirius Black. I'm Addy's best friend." He said with a wide smile, giving a purposeful glance at Mr Fawley, who happened to be slightly glaring at him.

"Oh! You are the one Poppy mentioned! You have the makings of a rather talented healer from what I hear Mr Black." She said with a cheery laugh. Adelaide liked this lady very much. "Now, Miss Adelaide, I understand that you have a very curious case of the Horribilis Flu." The woman began, addressing her parents as well. "we have had a few severe cases come through this year, but we should be able to get you up and back at school in no time!" She said giving a wink to Sirius. "Now, first thing is first, lets get your vitals..." she said. Healer Oystein began to conduct many different non-verbal spells with her wand, marking notes every so often upon the clipboard she held.

"Alright, well I have everything I need, I will have the fellows down in Potions whip you up something special." She told Adelaide before turning to her parents. "She should be discharged within a day or two if all goes well." She said brightly as the two parents nodded curtly.

"Hey Ads! I brought you something!" Sirius whispered with a smirk as soon as Healer Oystein left and her parents went back to whatever it was they were doing. "Well... someone..." he said pulling out the purple plushy.

"Oh Dorris! I didn't think you made the trip!" Addy giggle then yawned.

"Get some rest Tufts," Sirius told Adelaide while gently patting her head. She nodded lazily and fell asleep within minutes. Sirius made himself at home in the squashy chair beside her and pulled out a Quidditch magazine he had borrowed from James... or was it Mary?

"Sirius, may I speak with you privately for a moment?" Mr. Fawley said while Sirius was half way through reading about the Chuddly Cannons miserable defeat last week.

"Why?" Sirius asked, a frown at his brow as he looked over to Adelaide curled up with Dorris the purple plushy. He didn't like leaving her.

"It will only take a moment." He said, sounding almost reassuring. Odd. Sirius hesitantly walked with him out of the room, and out into a quiet part of the hall where he faced the tall man.

"I wanted to thank you." Mr. Fawley said sincerely.

"Wait what?!" Sirius asked incredulously. He had half expected him to curse him, maybe verbally assault him... but thank him? This was a complete shock. Mr. Fawley hated Sirius... or so he thought.

"I wanted to thank you for taking care of my Adelaide." Mr. Fawley said calmly whilst Sirius looked at him, still completely dumbstruck. Mr Fawley took a deep breath, slightly amused by the boy's reaction (not that he would show that). "I know this may come as a shock to you, but I genuinely care about my daughter's well being." He said sincerely.

"W-whaa..." Sirius still couldn't find the right words. He could hardly believe that this was Mr. Fawley speaking these words. This had to be some sort of trick.

"That being said, I find it prudent to tell you that she is soon to be betrothed to another." Mr. Fawley told the curly haired boy, blue eyes boring into him.

"Woah woah woah! It's-it's not like that!" Sirius told him quickly as he realized what he was implying. "She's my best friend! That's all!" He clarified defensively.

Mr. Fawley closed his eyes briefly and nodded... not at all convinced. "Be that as it may, I believe your friendship with her will only cause her future anguish. So please, for Adelaide's sake, I ask that you keep your distance." He said sternly.

"I'm afraid I can't do that sir." Sirius said shaking his head, crossing his arms over his chest in defiance.

"I figured you would say as much." Mr Fawley told the boy with a sigh. "You _will_ keep your distance from her." He stated firmly. "I'm sure you are well aware of my wife's preferred form of discipline... and I'm sure you would never wish Adelaide to go through something like that for _your_ sake again." He said in a deadly cold and quiet voice. "So, I will say this again. You _will_ keep your distance from Adelaide." He said finally.

Sirius didn't know what to say, so he glared at the manipulative man with fierce grey eyes of defiance.

"However," Mr Fawley began with a contrived light hearted voice. "you might be able to keep your friendship with my daughter... if you were to _rethink_ some of your more dangerous ideologies." Mr. Fawley said with a sickly sweet smile. "If, by some miracle, you were to _correct_ your perspective concerning certain _matters of importance_ , you would be a welcome part in Adelaide's life." He said. "You would be able to protect her without any interference." He finished with a triumphantly smug look.

Filip Fawley knew that Adelaide was Sirius's weakness. He knew this because she was his own weakness.

Sirius stared in bewilderment at the man who had once again left him completely dumbstruck. He couldn't let Adelaide go through the horrors inflicted upon her at Christmas. But he also couldn't compromise his own beliefs for her sake; she wouldn't want him to. If Mr Fawley's intention was to mess with his head, he had clearly achieved his goal.

"I'll leave you to think about my proposition." Filip Fawley said, leaving the boy alone in the hall of Saint Mungo's. Sirius leaned against the wall and slid down to sit on the marble hospital floor, running his hands through his hair. What was he going to do?

Meanwhile, Adelaide had awoken from her nap and was slightly panicked when she didn't see Sirius. "W-Where's Sirius?" She asked looking around the room.

"He's in the hall with your father." Mrs Fawley informed the girl, not looking up from her magazine, just as Mr. Fawley walked back into the room... alone.

"Where is he!?" she asked her father, panic in her eyes. For a moment, a small fleeting moment, as he looked into the forest green eyes of his daughter, Filip Fawley wondered if he had made the right decision.


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22-INTERSTELLAR WARDROBE CONVENTION IN 1928**

 _"P-p-please! D-Don't hurt him! Stop! P-please! Take me! Take me instead!" Adelaide sobbed, shrieking. It was as if her heart was being ripped out of her chest. "P-PLEASE TAKE ME INSTEAD!"_

 _"Well if you insist... CRUCIO!"_

 _Pain beyond words. She couldn't think, she could only scream and pray for it to end. But it was better her than him._

 _A cold laugh.. the cold laugh of her mother rang in her ears. Then the cold high laugh of someone else. A man?_

 _But then there was another voice, a warmer voice that was calling her name. "Addy! Addykins!"_

"Addykins! Addy wake up! It's okay Ads, it's only a dream.." the voice said gently as she sobbed, drenched in sweat and tears. Her sheets upon her hospital bed had been kicked off, her hair stuck to her sweaty face.

"S-s-Sirius? You're okay?" She asked looking up with searching eyes.

"Yeah Ads it's me. I'm okay Addykins, everything's okay. It was just a dream, love." He said, gently stroking her hair. She looked around the room to see her parents standing close by, both looking rather distressed. She saw the face of her mother and instantly broke down into sobs once again, blubbering into the boy's shoulder.

It broke Sirius's heart to see her cry like this. She had been doing so well, Lily said she hadn't had a nightmare like this for the past month, and now here she was, forced to remember her most painful memory at her weakest moment. This made him angry. Angry at the ones who made her go through this.

"Does she... does this happen often?" Asked Mr Fawley, eyebrows furrowed into a deep set frown, lips pressed together into a thin line.

"Yes. Less often now... something must have triggered it." He ended giving a poisonous glare to Mrs Fawley. Cathryn Fawley, for the first time in Sirius's memory, looked rather out of sorts. She was silent, but very much on edge. You could practically see conflicted thoughts running through her mind as she watched her daughter be consoled by her blood-traitor friend.

Adelaide was quite disoriented and had honestly forgotten where she was until a soft knock on the door announced the arrival of Healer Oystein. "Hello! I've come to check how the- Oh my!" She exclaimed upon seeing the distraught girl in the dark haired boy's arms. "What happened?"

"She had a nightmare." Sirius said shortly, giving a look at Mrs. Fawley, then continuing to try to calm Adelaide.

"Oh you poor thing... I can fetch a calming draught if you'd like." She said kindly.

"Y-y-yes please." Adelaide said, voice muffled a bit from her face being buried into Sirius's now soggy jumper.

The healer nodded. "I'll be back in just a moment." She told her before heading out of the room.

"Adelaide, dear..." Mr. Fawley began. He didn't know what to say. He knew he was just as much at fault for her trauma as his wife, but he had to do something. "Darling... come here." he said gently... well as gently as Filip Fawley was capable of being, with his arms outstretched.

"No." she mumbled, shaking her head, sniffling and trying to calm her breath, moving further away from him, and closer to Sirius as a result.

Filip Fawley dropped his arms to his sides and felt his heart shatter.

Another soft knock on the door announced Healer Oystein's return with the calming draught. "There we go. That should help dear." She said comfortingly. The old witch took a moment to take in the sight before her. The small girl of 12, struggling to compose herself in the arms of the lanky, curly headed boy with a look of disdain for her mother. The girl's parents looking completely at a loss as for what they could do to help her. It was odd, but not unfamiliar. She knew there was something going on, but with the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement as the girl's father, she couldn't fathom what that would be.

"Thank you." Adelaide said to the Healer after a few minutes. Healer Oystein left once the calming draught finally began to kick in and said she would return in an hour or so to check back on her.

"Sorry about your jumper Sirius..." Adelaide said avoiding eye contact as she wiped the remainder of her tears away. Adelaide was very grateful that Sirius had been there to wake her, but she also felt very embarrassed. Lily and Mary were usually the ones who helped her when she had those bad dreams. The boys had only ever really witnessed it once when she fell asleep in James's bed after a particularly bad day. Remus was the one to calm her down.

"It's fine, don't worry about it." Sirius said with an easy smile. He didn't feel awkward at all, he was just happy she was okay. However, he did feel a little unsettled by the whole experience, but only because he was worried about Adelaide. What would happen when she was home alone this summer?

"Adelaide... darling..." her father started.

"It's fine father. I-I.. I just had a bad dream. I'm okay." she said, slowly putting on the mask she used to convince the world she really was fine.

"Adelaide...dear... Your mother and I love you very much... It's important that you know that." He said softly, in almost a whisper.

He sounded so earnest. Adelaide was tempted to believe him.

"I love you too." she said.

* * *

Adelaide was discharged from the hospital two days later. Her parents kept their distance the rest of the time they were there and seemed almost okay with Sirius's presence after the nightmare incident.

Upon arriving back at Hogwarts, Adelaide and Sirius were both severely behind in their classes. However, with studious friends like Lily Evans and Remus Lupin, they were not going to stay behind for long... at least not if they had anything to do about it.

"EVANS, I DON'T BLOODY CARE ABOUT SOME INTERSTELLAR WARDROBE CONVENTION IN 1928!" Exclaimed Sirius, leaning forward in his chair. Lily, Sirius, Remus, and Adelaide were at a table in the common room, all huddled around a pile of books and notes from the lessons they had missed on account of Adelaide's illness.

Lily let out a noise of frustration. "IT'S THE _INTERNATIONAL WARLOCK CONVENTION OF 1289_! WE'VE BEEN OVER THIS 20 TIMES BLACK!" She said waving a piece of parchment in his face wildly.

"Lils. Pads. I mean this in the nicest way possible... Shut up." Adelaide said pinching the top of her nose. She had been listening to those two bicker back and forth about History of Magic for at least half an hour. Lily looked mildly shocked by the platinum blonde girl, but sat back in her chair and let out a breath in frustration. Sirius looked a bit offended, but sat back in his chair as well, leaning back to balance on its back two legs. "Padfoot, you're going to fall out of your chair one of these days if you keep doing that."

"I will not! I have great reflexes!" He said arrogantly.

"He's right Ads. Some might even call them... _cat-like_." Remus said calmly with a smirk, looking up from behind a book.

Adelaide burst out in fits of laughter as Sirius sputtered at the comment. Lily, didn't fully understand the joke, but even she couldn't help but laugh a little as Sirius's ego was taken down a peg.

"Okay, okay, that's enough. Let's move on, shall we?" Sirius grumbled after a while of the other three's continued laughter at his expense.

"Fine.. How about charms?" Remus suggested.

"I read ahead on charms, I can help Sirius with that one later." Adelaide told him with a dismissive wave of her hand.

"Astronomy?" Lily said. Sirius snorted a laugh. "Oh yeah, I forgot about 'Sirius _Starkid_ Black' over here..." She said with an eye roll. "Potions?" She suggested. She was immediately met with simultaneous groans of annoyance from Adelaide and Sirius. "Potions it is then!" she said cheerily as Remus smirked.

"How many rat tails are in the hair-raising potion?" Remus quizzed the two.

" _No idea, why don't you ask Peter_.." Adelaide remarked under her breath to Sirius who had to bite his cheek to keep from laughing.

"Five." Lily answered for the two snickering Gryffindors.

Remus shot Lily a look for answering for them. He let out a breath and then continued. "Name two potions in which four sprigs of lavender are used."

"Every time I think of the color purple, I think of Dorris... is that weird?" Sirius asked Adelaide.

"No, not really.. do we even know where Dorris came from?" Adelaide asked Sirius, both ignoring the annoyed look on Remus's face as they continued to not answer his question. "I mean she just sort of showed up.."

"You know I've been wondering about that -" Sirius answered.

"Are you two going to give me an answer or are we just going to listen to you go on and on about Dorris?" Remus snapped with an uncharacteristic amount of edge to his voice, slamming the parchment onto the table.

" _Ugghh_! Remus, we're getting no where with this! We need to figure out another way!" Lily exclaimed squishing her face between her hands.

"Well I bet James could help..." Remus began. He was being honest, if anyone could get those two to follow orders, it was him.

"NO. Do _not_ bring Potter into this. I only agreed to help because I knew he was at Quidditch and wouldn't come barging in!" Lily huffed, face turning a bit pinker.

"You seem quite familiar with Jamies schedule Lils..." Adelaide taunted with a sly smile.

"I have to be! It's the only way I can know when to avoid him!" Lily exclaimed frustratedly, running a hand through her auburn hair, her bright green eyes narrowed at just the thought of the annoying boy.

" _Sure_..." Adelaide said softly with a smirk, earning a glare from Lily. "You can glare at me all you want Lily Evans, but you still love me." she said with a self-satisfied look.

"Doesn't mean I always like you..." She muttered. "Oh! I think I have an idea!" she said suddenly, a smile upon her face.

"Well by all means, please share, Evans." Sirius said.

She shot him a look, "I think you lot will like this more than I will.. Okay, if you two can correctly memorize the ingredients for the Hair-Raising potion, I will help you with one of your stupid prank projects or whatever it is you all do on Saturdays."

Adelaide shared a look with Remus and Sirius. They could very much use her help with the Animagus potion.

"Deal." they said in unison.

"Well that was easy.." Lily said with an awkward chuckle. What had she just gotten herself into?

"Can we learn something else for more help?" Sirius asked with a sly look.

"Uh.. erm.. I suppose..." Lily said. She really had a bad feeling about this, but if it made sure Adelaide didn't fail her classes, she was all for it.

"How about we start with... _Transfiguration_." He said with a wide mischievous grin.


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23- The Worst Friday**

Adelaide was seated in the great hall, eating her oatmeal between Mary and Sirius, and across from James, just like any other Friday morning. She was in particularly good spirits this Friday, looking forward to getting back to work on the Animagus potion the next day, especially now that they had enlisted the help of a Potions expert like Lily Evans.

She was in the process of reaching to grab her pumpkin juice when a large, black, great horned owl with bright yellow eyes landed upon the table in front of her. It reached out its leg, gesturing for her to take the letter tied to it. She knew this owl. It was her family owl, Archimedes. She quickly untied the letter from it's leg with shaking hands, gave the owl a piece of sausage, and watched as it flew back from whence it came.

No one at the table thought much of the occurrence, distracted by the various letters and parcels delivered by their own owls. Adelaide slowly and carefully opened the letter to read what her parents had to say. As her forest green eyes scanned the words written upon the page, her timid and fearful demeanor morphed to one of anger and frustration. She crumpled the parchment into a ball, shoved it into her bag, and left the hall for her first class without a word, and 30 minutes early.

She stormed off toward her double Defense Against the Dark Arts class, and sat in her usual seat waiting for the class to begin. She pulled out her book to distract herself, but the words of the letter were etched into her mind, and intruded into every other thought.

"Miss Fawley, you are quite early!" Remarked Professor Gallagher. He was a nice enough professor, much more competent than his predecessor, but gave her an uneasy feeling. Adelaide regretted going straight to class and wished she would have just run into an empty hallway to sulk.

She nodded to the professor in acknowledgment, then went back to pretending to read her book on advanced charms.

"'Advanced Security and Concealment Charms'?" The professor noted, looking over her shoulder at the book. "That's quite an unusual book to see a mere second year reading." He said in an almost challenging voice.

"I enjoy charms." Adelaide said cooly, flipping the page, but never meeting eyes with the nosey professor.

"Ah yes, Professor Flitwick did mention you have a certain aptitude for them, but what use would you have for security and concealment charms for at your age?" He continued. Adelaide could tell he was trying to get at something. Trying to pry her open for information. But she wasn't about to tell him anything about the somewhat-illegal map she and her friends had been working on.

"Well you know what they say, 'Constant Vigilance'." She said quoting one of the more intense Aurors she had met when she accompanied her father to work once.

To her surprise, the Professor laughed. "I believe Alastor Moody says that more often than others." He said with remembrance twinkling in his chocolate brown eyes. "I forget that your father is Filip."

"You know my father?" She asked, looking up from her book at last.

"Of course! I was an Auror for many years Miss Fawley." He said

With the mention of her father, her parents and the contents of their letter were brought back into the forefront of her mind. Before she could have a chance to think through what she was doing, she found her self asking, "Sir, what would happen if someone were to use an Unforgivable Curse?"

That was not a question he expected the girl to ask, but he didn't miss a beat in answering. "They would be sent to Azkaban. An immediate life sentence."

"But, I mean, if they used it privately, how would anyone know that they used it at all?"

The professor was taken aback by this question as well. "I can insure you Miss Fawley, that there are ways in which we can track the usage of such curses."

"But it's possible, to get around those 'ways', aren't there?" She stated, more than asked the man as students began to pour into the class. She had been wondering for a while just how her mother was able to get away with using The Cruciatus Curse on her. What better person to ask than a former Auror?

Sirius sat beside her, slightly glaring at the Professor whom Adelaide was having a strange staring match with. The professor eventually made his way back to the front of the class to prepare for his lesson, ending their conversation.

"Ads, what happened? Why did you leave breakfast early?" Sirius asked, brows knitted together. "And what was up with you and Professor G?"

"I got a letter from my parents," Adelaide said in a low voice through gritted teeth. "And Professor Gallagher was just being annoying as usual." She told the dark haired boy beside her.

"Oh, what- um.. what was in the letter?" Sirius asked tentatively.

"I'll tell you later." She said shortly as Professor Gallagher began to ask for the classes attention.

It was a boring two class periods. The only interesting thing was that they went over the theory behind some defensive spells they would be learning the next week.

The bell rang, announcing the end of class, and Adelaide began to pack her things to leave for History of Magic. She wanted to get out quickly so she could sit next to Mary, and not Lily. Lily would force her to try to pay attention; Mary would write notes back and forth and play hangman with her.

"Miss Fawley, I would like to speak with you for a moment before you go." Said the Professor. Sirius looked between her and the Professor with a quizzical look.

"Uh.. you want me to wait for you Ads?" Sirius asked. She nodded, then walked up to the Professor's desk at the front of the room.

"You're free to leave Mr. Black." Professor Gallagher told Sirius.

"I know that. I'm waiting for Addy." He told him shortly.

"Well then please wait outside my classroom." He commanded.

Sirius scowled at the man, looking to Adelaide who gave him a 'Just go, I'll be fine' sort of look, then left the classroom and stood right beside the door.

"Miss Fawley, I wanted to speak with you regarding what we were discussing before the beginning of class." He began. "I wanted to tell you that it would take a very powerful concealment charm, one far more powerful than anything you could find in that book, to mask the use of an unforgivable curse." He said in a warning tone. "I hope you understand that the use of an unforgivable, even by a child is, just that: _unforgivable_." Adelaide had the strange sense that he was scolding her for some reason. What had she done wrong? "And that the dementors of Azkaban do not discriminate. They will attack the young as well as the old." He finished looking at her intensely.

"I-I understand that sir... I-I was just ...curious." She said, backing away subtly from the man.

He gave her one last searching look, "Very well, you may go." He told her as she bolted out of the classroom, running into Sirius in her haste.

"What the bloody hell was that all about?" Sirius asked. He had been listening in on her conversation through the door. Adelaide quickly relayed the conversation to him as they walked toward History of Magic.

"He's a creepy bloke." Sirius said shaking his head as they walked up to the door.

Class was about to begin and Mary looked rather mopey as she sat next to auburn haired Lily. Adelaide felt bad, but not bad enough to want to switch seats with her. Sirius sat in the seat James had saved for him, leaving Adelaide alone. She settled for an open seat in the very front next to a Slytherin girl with mousy brown hair wearing a pink headband. She was quite short, and had impeccable posture.

"Um, is anyone sitting here?" She asked the girl.

"No, go right ahead!" She said in a high-pitched breathy voice, that made her sound like a girl much younger than her years. It didn't match her face at all.

"Oh, thanks." Adelaide said sitting down beside the girl. "Um I'm Adelaide," she said reaching out to shake the girl's hand. "Adelaide Fawley."

"Delores Umbridge, but you can call me Dollie." She said in her little-girlish voice with a giggle. "I already know who you are. Your family is practically royalty!" She said happily.

"Oh Uh..." Adelaide stuttered awkwardly. Thankfully, she was saved from what was her to be an awkward conversation when Professor Bins floated up to the front of the class to begin the lesson on one of the many Giant Wars. He droned on for nearly 20 minutes about the resolutions put in place after the war, not that Adelaide was really paying all that much attention.

"Hem hem" came a sound from beside Adelaide. She looked up from her cat doodle to see Dollie holding her hand up high, her toad-like face twisted up into a terrifying smile.

"Oh, yes Miss um... "

"Umbridge sir," Dollie informed the ghostly Professor Bins. "I was wondering why giants and other half-breeds are still around today if they are so dangerous?" She began in her sickly sweet voice. Adelaide instantly scowled at her use of the word 'half-breed'. "Wouldn't it be more prudent to... exterminate them?" She asked with a girlish giggle.

Professor Bins looked a bit confused and was opening and closing his translucent mouth at a total loss for words, which really was a first in his life and after death.

"I think it would be more prudent to exterminate prejudiced twits like you." Said Sirius from his seat a few rows back. Adelaide immediately turned around and caught the sight of Remus sitting at the desk beside him. His shoulders were rolled forward and his head was down as he hid behind his book. Adelaide thought it looked very much like he wanted nothing more than to magically crawl inside of that book and disappear. She was right.

"Detention." Professor Bins said to Sirius. "With Filch tonight at 8pm."

"You may as well give me detention too sir. Because I whole-heartedly agree with him." Adelaide said standing from her seat.

"10 points from Gryffindor and detention for you too Miss Fawley." Professor Bins said.

"You're going to take away points from us, while she gets none taken away for asking why we don't just murder people and beings who are different!?" Sirius yelled incredulously pointing at Dollie.

"Out. Out of my class. Both of you!" He ordered as the two gladly obeyed.

They left the class together in a huff. Adelaide kicked a poor unsuspecting bench in the corridor. "Ughhh!" She exclaimed in anger and frustration. "This is possibly the worst Friday of my school career." She said.

Sirius was still seething from her desk-mates prejudiced and callous comments. "Did you see Moony's face when she was talking about killing half-breeds?!" He asked angrily. "I don't know how you didn't just hex her right then and there Tufts."

"Oh I wanted to! Believe me! It probably would have happened if you hadn't started talking." She said incensed. "Between her, and that annoying professor, and my parents going on an on about my 'marriage prospects', I swear I'm about one more mishap away from hexing someone into the next century!"

"Wait.. that's what the letter was about? Your 'marriage prospects'?" Sirius asked.

She let out a loud annoyed sigh. "Yes." She said simply, not really wanting to explain further.

"I-I thought your dad was just bluffing about that." Sirius said.

"Bluffing about what?" She asked, intrigued. Sirius hadn't mentioned all that much about his conversation with her father, only that he said for him to stay away from her.

"Well.. when I talked to him that time at Saint Mungo's.. he... well he said you were soon to be 'betrothed'... I think he thought... well... it doesn't really matter what he thought.. anyway, I just figured it was his way of trying to get me away from you." Sirius said.

"Oh. I think he was being honest about that part Pads. They've been planning and plotting my future wedding for years..." she said sadly. "They said, in the letter, that they're in final discussions with a handful of families and that I have to meet with them all during the summer." She explained sadly.

"That's- that's so soon though! You don't even turn 13 until August! They-they can't do that!" He exclaimed.

"They can though." She told him as they rounded the corner of the corridor to the grand staircase.

"Ads! We have to get you out of there!" Sirius said emphatically.

"Sirius. I told you already, that it's impossible." She said sadly. Every time Sirius went on about how he wanted to get her out of her home it only made her sadder, knowing that she wished she could, but that it would be too difficult and dangerous. "But I have a plan as for the whole arranged marriage meetings his summer." She said with a mischievous smile.


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24-** **This Is Somewhat Illegal**

On a Saturday morning in mid April, Lily Evans climbed up the winding mahogany staircase, decorated with crimson and gold that led to the second year boys' dorm. This was the first time she had ever been to the boys' dorm and she was, not for the first time, severely regretting her decision to help Adelaide and her friends with whatever prank they were plotting. As she got closer to the door, she could hear the muffled voices of Adelaide and the four boys having a rather heated conversation. Her own curiosity led her to lean her ear against the door and listen in.

"C'mon Moons! What are we supposed to-"

"No. We are not telling her!" Remus snapped, cutting off James in the process.

Adelaide spoke next. "Remmy, you know how smart she is, she'll probably figure it out on her own anyway. Why not just tell her now?" She said in a gentle voice.

"I can't Ads!" Remus replied loudly.

James let out a groan, "uuugggghhh! Can't we at least tell her what the potion is for? We don't have to tell her about the _other thing_." He suggested.

"I know you think she's _'amazing'_ and _'the best thing since Quidditch was invented'_ and all Prongs, but if you don't think she'll tell McGonagall the _second_ she finds out about this then-" Sirius said, being cut off by Adelaide.

"She _won't tell_ Pads!" Adelaide snapped.

"But what if she does!?" He countered. "We would all get kicked out of school!"

"Nah, Dumbledore likes us too much to do all that. Although the detentions might be brutal." James remarked.

"Whatever. We won't tell her. okay? ... _at least not yet_." Adelaide said, whispering the last words. "Wormy, can you pass me the book? I want to make sure I wrote the ingredients down right. She'll be her soon."

"Sure thing Tufts!" Said Peter.

"Hey Moony, do you have anymore of those chocolate muffins?" Sirius asked.

"No, sorry Pads" Remus said sadly as Sirius made a sort of whining grumbling sound that sounded a lot like a grumpy puppy.

Lily smiled to herself, looking down at the basket of muffins in her arms, and took this opportunity to knock on the door.

"She's here!" Squealed James. Lily rolled her eyes.

"No no no no! You stay right there James!" Adelaide said, opening the door. "LILY!" She said happily, reaching out to hug the girl and beckon her into the boy's dorm. "Ooo, what's that?" She asked, pointing to the basket.

"Breakfast." Lily said with a sly smile. "I grabbed some muffins from downstairs before I came up."

"Do you have any chocolate muffins?!" Sirius asked hopefully.

"I do indeed." She said tossing the muffin to him.

Sirius's face lit up with pure unadulterated happiness. "Okay. I take back part of what I said James." He mumbled through his mouth full of muffin. James looked very proud.

Lily proceeded to hand everyone a muffin (or two), then sat next to Adelaide to eat her own. Lily looked around the messy dorm room her best friend spent so much time in. It was not clean, but she could tell they at least tried to tidy up. Dirty clothes were shoved under the beds, candy wrappers and bits of parchment littered most of their dressers and desks, but the floor and chairs were clear of clutter, and their beds were messily made.

The only exception was what Lily assumed was James's part of the room. His four poster bed was neatly made, with what looked like a handmade quilt folded at the end. There was not a bit of trash to be found anywhere upon his dresser or desk, and his desk was impeccably organized with his school books lined up neatly in the corner with a magical picture (of what she assumed was him and his parents) and a Gryffindor quidditch team banner hanging proudly on the wall behind.

"Addy," Lily whispered discreetly. "Is James always that... _tidy?"_ She asked.

Adelaide smiled through her mouth full of blueberry muffin and nodded. "Yeah, he's usually pretty clean, that's why I always crash in his bed and not the others." She explained, taking another bite of her muffin. "I feel bad making him sleep on the floor though.." she said with her mouth full, half-shrugging.

After everyone had finished their breakfast, complements of Lily, Adelaide brought out a piece of parchment with ingredients listed upon it. Adelaide was about to begin speaking when Lily beat her to it.

"I just want to say, that if this is some sort of prank on Severus, I want no part in it." She said authoritatively.

"It's not. It's not even a prank—Ow!" Exclaimed James as Sirius and Remus both threw pillows at his face. "You guys broke my glasses again," he griped, looking around for his wand.

Lily rolled her eyes. "Hand them over." she said in a kinder tone than she herself was expecting. James obliged, hesitantly, and watched with blurry vision as she pointed her wand and muttered a few spells at the glasses. His face broke out in a wide smile as she handed them back and told him, "There. All fixed. I also put a strengthening charm on them, so they shouldn't break so easily in the future."

"Thanks Lily." James said dreamily, a lopsided smile upon his lips as he looked at her in awe.

Lily, turned to look at the others who gave her a strange look, but ignored them. "Okay. So, it's not a prank. What is it?" She asked, genuinely intrigued.

"Oh... uh... um it's a potion." Adelaide said, handing the auburn haired girl the list of ingredients. "It's really complicated, but for now we mainly need help just trying to find all the stuff we'll need."

Lily took the parchment from her hands and read over the list. Just by the ingredients she could tell that this was very advanced magic. "The dew will be tricky, but not impossible." She said pacing about the room. "Getting one of the Mandrake leaves may be more difficult.. Professor Sprout guards those little buggers with her life..." she said still looking down at the parchment, eyebrows furrowed in concentration.

Sirius nudged Adelaide. "Ouch.. Oh! Um... we will actually need to make um... four batches of this..." she said awkwardly. Lily's face turned to pure shock.

" _Four?_ " She repeated, looking at Adelaide intently "But just one is going to be hard enough! But _four?!"_ She exclaimed. No wonder they were eager to accept her help. She let out a sigh. "Well can you at least tell me what it is I'm helping you brew?"

"No." Remus said immediately.

Adelaide and James gave him a frustrated look, Peter just looked between them all with a calculated glint in his eyes. "Lily's nice though, she wouldn't tell anyone." Peter said with an uncharacteristic amount of confidence to Remus.

"Wormy's right." James said, backing him up.

"No." Remus said, less surely.

"You know what, as long as this isn't anything illegal, or a prank, it's really not a big deal..." Lily said, not missing the flash in all their eyes as she said the word 'Illegal'. "It's.. it's not _illegal_ is it?" She asked. She was afraid she already knew the answer.

"C'mon moons! We have to tell her!" Adelaide pleaded. "Only about the potion!" She clarified.

Remus scrunched up his face, thinking hard for a long few moments, then finally spoke. "Fine. But, only about the potion."

"What?! No!" Sirius exclaimed standing up from where he was seated upon the edge of his bed.

"You're outnumbered Pads! We're telling her!" James said authoritatively, surprising Lily when Sirius sat down. "Ads, it was your idea, why don't you explain."

Adelaide nodded, and gave the look she made when she was thinking very hard about how to phrase something, it a was look Lily had become familiar with. "Okay, maybe you should sit down..." Adelaide started. Lily sat in the desk chair beside where Adelaide was sitting upon Sirius's bed. "Alright. So, this _is_ somewhat illegal... but it's not like we're trying to hurt anyone, so it's not that bad... it's just.. uh... kind of dangerous..."

"Adelaide. Would you please just tell me!" Lily said, getting very tired of all this secrecy.

"She's working on it! Calm your Hippogriffs!" Sirius said. Adelaide and Lily both spared him a glare.

"We want to become animagi." Adelaide said bluntly. " Well all of us except Remus.. he's not a big fan of the whole thing, as you may have noticed." She lied.

"Ani-animagi? ANIMAGI?!" Lily said standing up from her seat. "Do you have any idea how dangerous that is?! Why on earth would you want to become animagi?!" She asked, throwing her hands in the air to express her utter exasperation.

"We can't tell you why." Adelaide said firmly, unfazed by Lily's exasperation.

"How do you even know how to do this?! Surely they don't keep books teaching this just laying around in the library!" Lily said incredulously.

"They don't. Believe me, we checked." Sirius said.

"Then how-"

"We found the book at my house." James said, looking a little guilty. He was afraid Lily would yell at him.

"What?" Lily asked confused.

James then explained to Lily how Adelaide and Sirius figured out what book they needed in the citations of another book (leaving out the part about it being in the restricted section), how the book needed was written by Iolanthe Peverell, whom he happened to be related to, and how the four boys eventually found the book over the summer in his library after they had sustained a combined total of 27 doxy bites.

"You have been planning this since _last year?_ " Lily asked in disbelief.

"Yes. We already learned how to cast the Patronus charm for the-" Adelaide tried to explain.

"You can cast a Patronus?!" Lily asked. "That's- that's way above O.W.L. Level magic! How can you be almost failing classes when you are capable of casting a charm like _that_?! You know what. Don't answer that."

"As I was saying, we learned how to cast the Patronus Charm recently, and so at this point all we really need to do to move forward is brew the potion, and keep the leaves in our mouths. We wanted to try to get the potion done this semester... we can't... well... _I can't_ meet up with the boys over the summer... so if we don't figure something out quickly, we won't be able to transform until next school year, and then we wouldn't be able to help-" Adelaide cut herself off. Lily gave her a questioning look. "Doesn't matter. Are you still going to help us, or did we memorized the ingredients to that silly potion for nothing?"

Lily let out a loud breath. "It was not for _nothing!"_ she huffed. She then took a moment to observe the looks upon their faces. They all looked so pleading, so desperate, so in need of her help. Even Remus, who had been against the whole plan, had a burning look of desperation hidden behind his amber eyes. Lily hated seeing people in need and not being able to help them. It was her weakness. She was kind to a fault, even to those whom she knew didn't deserve it. It was this innate kindness that led her to become best-friends with Severus, Adelaide, and Marlene, and what kept her from shutting out her big sister, Tunny, even after she called her a _'freak'._

Lily knew that if Adelaide was involved, whatever reason they had for doing all of this was probably a valiant one. She knew she may regret this later, but in a moment of weakness she looked into Adelaide's pleading eyes and said, "Yes."

 _"Yes?"_ James asked.

"Yes." Lily said again, a bit louder. "Yes, I will help you." She was shocked when she was immediately brought into a large group hug by all the Marauders. She was even more shocked when she realized that she was smiling just as wide as they were.

"Alright, alright. Let's get started, shall we?" Lily said with a smile on her face.


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25-** **You Drool More Than I Do**

It was the last Saturday in April when Lily Evans stood in front of the five Marauders with a clipboard in hand, looking rather teacher-like. "Alright, so, you've already mastered the Patronus," the Auburn haired witch began "-which means we still need to brew the potion, have you go the month, full moon to full moon, with those stupid leaves in your mouths saying the incantation nightly, and.."

"Incantation?! What incantation?" Sirius exclaimed with panic in his grey eyes.

"Pads relax. I have it written down for everyone." Adelaide shushed.

"Oh. Okay."

"As I was saying... you say the incantation for the month ending on a visible full moon. Remus, did you get a chance to check when the full moons will be?"

"May 16th to June 15th." Remus answered a bit too quickly.

"Oh. Well that lines up nicely, although I still expect you all to study for your end of term exams."

"Yeah, yeah, Lils," Adelaide said with a dismissive wave. Lily's brows creased a little, but she decided to let it go.

"So it will have to be a _visible_ full moon in June for it to work... Do we know the weather predictions?" Lily asked.

"The weather seer for The Daily Prophet said it should be clear that night... but she also said that there was a strong possibility of an earthquake last week so.." Remus trailed off.

"Well... we will just have to take our chances. Now, that night, assuming you all have been able to keep the leaf in one-hundred percent of the time, you will need to spit the leaf out _'into a phial within range of the moon's pure rays.'"_ she quoted. " Then you will have to add in one of your own hairs, a silver teaspoon of dew that has not seen sunlight or been touched by human feet for seven days, and the chrysalis of a Death's-head Moth hawk." She explained.

The room was filled with looks of worry... along with confusion on Peter's part. They knew it would be difficult, but this was almost too much to wrap their heads around.

"You need to then keep the mixture with you until the next electrical storm over the summer... I know you all wanted to transform before then, but I just don't know if the weather is going to permit it. Adelaide's making a list of instructions for everyone on what they should do between the time you complete the mixture to when you will drink it after the storm. She's masking it with the obscurio spell to erase the writing from unwanted eyes."

"Ads, isn't that the same one you're going to use on the-- mmmphh." Peter's voice was muffled by the hand of James.

Lily rolled her eyes. She didn't even want to know.

"Alright mates!" James said with forced excitement, letting go of Peter and changing the subject. "So does everyone know their mission?" he asked, pulling out his own clipboard and standing beside Lily. "Ads, you and Sirius need to grab the leaves from Sprouty, Remus, you and Pete need to sweet talk ol' sluggy and distract him while me and Evans get the moth-things we need from the store room, and then-"

"No, I think Evans should switch with Remus. Slughorn loves her." Adelaide remarked.

 _"Not as much as Prongs..."_ Sirius whispered to her under his breath. Adelaide nudged him with her elbow and tried to hide her chuckle with a cough.

"No! But- but that wasn't the plan!" James cried out, pointing to his meticulously written plan upon his clipboard fervently.

"Remus knows where to find the moths just as well as Lily." Adelaide explained while James pouted.

"Oh cheer up Prongsy! Lily still has to hang out with us after we get the stuff." Sirius said with a smirk causing James to perk up a bit.

"Okayyy... so anyway." Lily said, snatching James's clipboard out of his hands (he was very offended by this, even if it was Lily Evans... no one touched James Potter's plotting clipboard.) "I will work on getting the dew, and Adelaide will write up those instructions. Now... James, didn't you say you had a Quidditch match this afternoon?" Lily questioned.

"SWEET MERLIN!" James yelped before frantically grabbing his quidditch robes out of his trunk, his broom from beside his bed, and making a beeline out the door.

"I'll take that as a yes..." Lily said softly as the others just laughed. "Well, I need to go finish my Herbology essay, I'll see you all at dinner." Lily told them as she began to make her way out the room.

"Wait! Lily! Why don't you come to the game with us?" Said Adelaide.

"I told Severus I would work on homework with him in the Library." she told her. Sirius made a face of disgust, and Lily took that as her cue to leave and walked out the boy's dorm.

"Why is she friends with that slimy weirdo?" Sirius asked to no one in particular.

"They've been friends since before school" Adelaide shrugged. "I think he's had a rough time at home." she said softly. Although Adelaide was still not fond of the Slytherin boy Lily was best-friends with, she had come to respect him a little more since she became friends with Lily and got to know more about him. Severus Snape, however, did not like Adelaide or any of her Marauder friends because of the way they made him a particular target of their pranks.

"hmmph.. well we both have horrible families and we still know how to wash our hair." Sirius grumbled.

Adelaide and the boys marched off to go watch James in his quidditch match against Hufflepuff. Adelaide was wearing her favorite Gryffindor t-shirt with a large animated roaring Lion on the front. She spotted regulus standing with a group of Slytherin friends, assumably about to head down to the Quidditch pitch as well.

"Reggie!" she called out, waving wildly with a big grin leaving her friends to go say hi. "Hey Reggie! How's my favorite Slytherin!" she said mussing up his hair.

Regulus patted down his hair and smiled back. "I'm great! I'm headed to the game with my friends! Have you met them?" He asked.

Adelaide shook her head and noticed that a few of them looked a little older than Regulus and none of them looked particularly friendly. Adelaide was still on a high from all their Animagi planning and smiled kindly to the group.

"Oh! Hey everyone this is my friend Addy!" he told the group. They didn't seem all that impressed.

"Adelaide, actually... Adelaide Fawley." she corrected with a small smile. The faces perked up at the mention of her name.

"Fawley? You're the one who got stuck in Gryffindor, right?" said a taller boy who had to be a year ahead of her, with sun-tanned skin, brown hair, and blue green eyes. The way he spoke wasn't unkind, but his words were a little rude.

"Um.. I wouldn't say _stuck_.." Adelaide started.

"My parents said we're coming to stay with your family over the summer." he informed.

Adelaide's breath caught in her throat as she realized his family must be one of the one's her own family was in discussions with. She had always known and accepted the fact that her marriage would be arranged, but to meet someone who was potentially going to be her future husband under these circumstances was unexpected to say the least.

When Adelaide didn't say anything, the boy continued. "My name's Evan... Evan Rosier." he said politely, reaching out to shake her smaller pale hand.

"u-um it was nice to um meet you Evan.. I really need to get back to my friends now Reggie, I'll see you later."

"See you this summer!" Evan called out with a wave as Adelaide hastily made her way back to Sirius, Remus, and Peter.

"What's he talking about?" Remus asked her.

"He-he's not..." Sirius started turning to look at Adelaide's impassive face. She was trying to block out her feelings again, he knew she was. "He is, isn't he." Sirius said quietly. "I'm going to get you out of that place Ads. They can plan all they want, but we're going to get you out of there." he said in a low voice.

"Down boy." Adelaide said with a forced laugh. "Let's just enjoy the game, yeah?"

"James, I hate making you sleep on the floor." Adelaide said later that evening, just before yawning loudly.

James shrugged. "it's fine. The sleeping bag isn't too bad..."

"No! Just let me sleep on the floor and you take the bed! You had," she yawned again, "had the game today! You won! You deserve the bed!"

"Ads. Just go to sleep." James sighed, knowing she was not going to let this go.

"Good Godric! Here I'll take the sleeping bag and you can sleep in my bed Ads." Remus exclaimed grumpily.

"No! Then you'll be even grumpier in the morning than usual! The world can't handle that Remus!" Adelaide told the perturbed werewolf.

"Okay, well I can't deal with _this_." Sirius said running his hand over his face. "Ads just sleep in my bed. I'll take the stupid sleeping bag."

"But-"

"Just get in the stupid bed Fawley." Sirius said, snatching the sleeping bag out of James's hands and curling up on the floor. "There's no cooties, I promise." he mumbled into the pillow.

"Just a lot of drool..." she muttered loud enough for Sirius to hear her.

"You drool more than I do." he said, throwing a slipper in her general direction as she climbed into the bed

"I DO NOT!"

"Yeah you do!" Peter laughed.

"Didn't you say she talked in her sleep that one time too, Pads?" James taunted.

"I DID NOT!"

"Oh yeah! I forgot about that! She kept going on and on asking me if I would fly her over some ruddy puddle!" Sirius said.

Remus sat up in bed, "Wait, didn't James offer to fly Lily over a pud-?"

"I met some Slytherin guy I might have to marry today!" Adelaide said quickly changing the subject.

"WHAT?!" Exclaimed Remus, James, and Peter.

"Yeah, his name's Evan... well good night lads!" she said ducking under the covers.

"NO NO NO! You need to explain Tufts!" James said all authoritatively.

"I think that guy's my cousin.." Sirius murmured absently.

"Very.." She faked a yawn, "Sleepy... tell you tomorrow..."

"Wait, what were you saying before that Moony?" Sirius asked.

"Shut up and go to sleep Black." Adelaide said, grabbing the slipper he had thrown her way earlier, and chucking it straight toward his face with a surprising amount of accuracy in the dimly lit dorm room.

"Ads, there is no way you wouldn't make the team next year with an arm like that..." James began. Of course he had to change the subject to Quidditch.

"Good night!" Adelaide said finally, flicking her wand to turn out the lights.


	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26- We Got Them**

"Ouch! That stupid plant just bit me!" Adelaide exclaimed.

"SHHH! You know, I would really expect a cat to be sneakier." Sirius whispered.

The two were underneath James's invisibility cloak and trying to make their way to the greenhouse where the mandrakes were taking their afternoon nap just after lunch. The plan was to grab the leaves and then return back before their study period.

"You know this would be so much easier if we could get that map to work..."

"Sorry, I've been a little too preoccupied with other illegal activities to get around to that one Padfoot." Adelaide snapped.

"Someone's in a bad mood..."

"I'm in a great mood."

"Liar. Now which greenhouse is it?" He asked.

"Three... OW! I swear if you step on my foot one more time Pads-"

Sirius quickly put his hand over Adelaide's mouth.

"SHHH! I think someone's- Ew!" he whisper shouted as she licked his hand, pulling his hand away swiftly and wiping it on his pant leg.

"Someone's coming!" She whispered pulling him against the wall of one of the greenhouses.

The two watched as Mr. Filch and Madam Pince, the school Librarian, walked past the entrance holding hands and... smiling? They had never seen Madam Pince smile before.

"Well there's someone for everyone I guess.." Adelaide shrugged, before dragging Sirius toward greenhouse three. "They should be in the back... probably on the floor under a table where it's dark."

"You mean like those?" Sirius asked, pointing to a row of plants under a large table. There was a music box softly playing a lullaby next to them.

"Yep." Adelaide and Sirius then crept up to the plants holding scissors and a small box to hold the leaves. "Okay maybe we should get a couple more than we actually need in case Wormy eats one by accident—"

"Or James's falls out of his mouth while he's staring at Lily." Sirius snickered. Adelaide smirked, then proceeded to snip six leaves, one from each mandrake plant.

"Okay, I think that should be enough, now let's get out of here before-"

"Oh hello my little ones!" Professor Sprout cooed, moving forward to the plants the two Gryffindor's had just snipped with a teddybear clutched in her plump fingers.

Adelaide shot a panicked look at Sirius who seemed very focused. He raised his finger to his lips to tell her to stay quiet. He then slowly and carefully side-stepped away from Professor Sprout who was speaking baby talk to her precious plants, Adelaide following in his footsteps. They continued like this for an agonizing amount of time and were almost to the greenhouse entrance when they heard—

"OH! MY DARLINGS! SOMEONE HAS DEFILED YOU!" Adelaide supposed the Professor had finally realized that there were a few leaves missing. She quickly shot a look to her curly headed best friend and they raced out of the greenhouse while the professor began to curse the ones who had 'violently violated her beautiful and beloved babes'.

The two sprinted all the way up to the boys dorm in Gryffindor tower, knocking over poor little Professor Flitwick in the process.

They yanked off the cloak, startling James who had been hovering over his clipboard doodling his initials with Lily's. "Holy Horklumps!" the messy haired boy yelped.

"We—got—them!" Sirius said between labored breaths.

James stood up from his seat at his desk. "What?!"

"We!—Got!—Them!" Adelaide said with a grin handing him the box of stolen leaves, holding the stitch in her side.

James was thrilled and decided they needed to do something to celebrate and pulled out his hidden stash of candies. "Want some fudge flies, Tufts?" James asked, offering the bag to the blonde girl.

Adelaide made a face of utter disgust. "I know they aren't what made me sick, but I still can't stand to look at those things after all that." she said, scooting away. "Do you have any chocolate frogs?"

"Nah, but I know Moony does! Check the dresser."

Adelaide went to rummage through Remus's dresser for his hidden chocolate stash.

"So, what's next on the list?" Sirius asked grabbing a handful of candies and shoving them into his mouth.

"Erm..." James moved to check his clipboard, "The moth chrysalis things. We're planning to grab them during class tomorrow... but we may need a bit more of a distraction just in case. There's a chance Peter might accidentally say something if we take too long."

Sirius nodded. He was all too familiar with Peter's terrible secret keeping abilities.

"AH HA!" Adelaide called out, holding the chocolate frog up triumphantly in her hand.

"Is that mine?" Said a voice from the doorway.

"Just let it go. Trust me Moony, she's been in a real mood today..." Sirius said in a low voice. He wasn't wrong.

"But—"

"Moony... just trust me."

"fine..."

"MOONY!" Adelaide exclaimed, not even really caring that she had stolen the boys candy. "We got them! We got them Moons!" she said happily.

"What did you get?" Remus asked, eyeing his stolen chocolate frog in her hand greedily.

"We got the leaves Moons!" She chirped, taking a large bite out of the frogs head.

"What leaves?" Peter asked, poking his head out from behind Remus.

Adelaide let out an annoyed breath. "The Mandrake leaves to become Animagi!" she snapped viciously. Peter's eyes became wide as he made his way to his part of the room in silence. "I'm going to go tell Lily." She said making her way out of the room, biting off one of the chocolate frogs' legs.

"What's up with her?" Remus asked.

"She's been like that all day. Tried to bite my head off the whole damn time we were out getting the leaves."

"Do you think it has anything to do with her 'Slytherin Suitor'?" James asked. Sirius really hated that nickname.

Sirius shrugged but didn't answer.

That night Adelaide walked into the great hall for dinner to see Regulus waving at her from the slytherin table. She made her way over to say hello with a smile gracing her lips. However, her steps faltered slightly as she realized he was sitting next to Evan Rosier.

"Hey Reggie!" She said mussing up his hair as usual, pointedly ignoring the boy sitting beside him. "How's you're day been?"

"Ehhh it's been alright..." he trailed off. He was usually so enthusiastic, she knew something must have happened.

"Just alright?" She questioned.

"Um... well I erm... I didn't do so well on my transfiguration test..." he admitted. "McGonagall said she would let me retake it... but I dunno if it's going to help.."

"Why don't you just get James to help you? He's great at Transfiguration! He made perfect marks all last year!"

"Um... do you think he'd mind?" The boy questioned hesitantly. She knew James would love to help him, but also knew that Regulus wouldn't take her word for it.

"OI! JAMES! COME OVER HERE!" Adelaide bellowed, earning a few annoyed looks from both teachers and students.

James looked a little confused, but made his way to where she was standing by Regulus. He pushed up his glasses. "Hey Tufts! What's up?"

Adelaide caught Evan quirk an eyebrow at her nickname out of the corner of her eye.

"Would you mind helping Regulus with Transfiguration?" She asked him.

James smiled wide. "Sure! I wouldn't mind at all! How about free period tomorrow?" He asked the boy.

Regulus nodded. "That would be perfect! Thank you!" He said with a sweet smile.

"Anything for our favorite little Slytherin." James said smirking and ruffling up his hair, "See ya tomorrow Reg!" He said making his way back to the Gryffindor table followed soon after by Adelaide.

Adelaide was about halfway back to her seat when a hand from behind her gently caught hold of her wrist. She turned and looked up to see a Slytherin boy. Evan Rosier, to be exact. She looked from his blue green eyes, down to his hand around her wrist and he immediately let go.

Evan scratched the back of his neck. "That.. um... that was really nice... what you did back there... helping Reg out and all."

"Oh. Um, well he's my friend." She stated. She didn't really know what else to say.

Evan nodded. "He talks about you all the time you know?" He said with a little smile. "It's always _Addy this_ and _Addy that_ ," he chuckled. "Won't shut up about that stupid bird you got him!"

Adelaide found herself smiling back. "Hey! Merlin is not stupid! You know he's taught him how to do all these different tricks, it's really quite amazing."

"My apologies!" Evan said putting his hands up in defense with a wide smile on his lips. Adelaide noticed that he had a very nice smile.

She crossed her arms over her chest. "I'm not the one you need to be apologizing to." She smirked.

"I'll be sure to tell Merlin first thing tonight Miss Fawley."

"You better!" She giggled. "You can call me Addy by the way."

Evan looked down smiling and nodded. "What was up with Potter calling you that weird name?"

"Oh _that?_ It's a long story..."

"Maybe you can tell me this summer?" He suggested shyly.

"Hey Addykins! You coming to eat or not?"

Adelaide turned to see that Sirius had walked up to where she was standing with Evan.

" _Addykins?"_ Evan asked her lifting an eyebrow.

She shrugged. "I have a lot of nicknames."

"Ads..." Sirius began somewhat awkwardly. He was starting to feel like he was interrupting something. "Um... James got the house elves to make us a special pudding to celebrate getting the you-know-what's..."

"Oh! Yeah I'm coming! Um... Evan, this is Sirius Black, Reggie's brother. Sirius this is Evan Rosier."

The two boys stood at about the same height. Sirius subconsciously moved closer to Adelaide and narrowed his grey eyes at the brunette in front of him. Evan, however, gave an unreadable expression.

There was a moment of awkward silence as the two boys refused to exchange pleasantries.

Adelaide cleared her throat in an attempt to break the tension. "Um well I'll see you around Evan.." she said with a small wave, going back to sit with her Marauder companions.

"See you around Addy," Evan said back with a small smile, heading back to his own friend group.

"What the hell was that about?" Sirius asked as they walked to their seats.

Adelaide rolled her eyes, smiling. "We were just having a conversation you dramatic poodle. Relax."

Sirius did not relax, especially not after he noticed how good a mood Adelaide was in after her 'conversation' with Evan.

"I don't like that guy." he muttered.

"You don't know that guy." Adelaide shot back. Stopping to talk to her best friend before rejoining the table.

"Neither do you!" he exclaimed. Was she defending him? "And I do know him. We're cousins, remember?"

She rolled her forest green eyes yet again, but without a smile this time. "Everyone is cousins with everyone in pureblood families, Sirius. Odds are, even you and I are probably related somehow."

This comment bothered Sirius very much for some reason.

"Regardless, I know his family Addy. They're bad people."

"Are you really going to judge someone by their family?! Look at me and you! He could be totally different!"

"But what if he's not!"

"Sirius. I get that you want to protect me and all that, but I am perfectly capable of handling myself." she told him in a low voice.

"I know you are. I just don't trust him."

"Whatever. Let's just go eat okay?"


	27. Chapter 27

**Chapter 27- Right Again Miss Fawley**

It was Tuesday, May 8th, one week before the full moon, and the Marauders had one last piece of business to attend to before they could confidently move forward with their plan to become Animagi. Today was the day they would be _borrowing_ the chrysalises needed for the potion from Professor Slughorn's personal storeroom.

The plan was simple. Lily and Peter distract the professor while James and Remus retrieve the chrysalises under the cloak, and Adelaide and Sirius serve as lookout in case they needed to implement their back-up distraction.

As the Gryffindor and Slytherin second years entered into the Potions classroom, Lily was immediately met by a greasy haired boy with a hooked nose. "Hey Lils! I got us a spot at your favorite table!" He told his Gryffindor best friend.

"I'm so sorry Sev... I told Peter I would help him today." Lily said. Severus's previously happy face fell instantly.

"But we're always partners... I didn't even know you were friends with _him_."

"I know and I'm so sorry! He just needs a little help to get his marks up is all, I promise we'll be partners again next class!" Severus didn't seem all that happy about the situation, but wasn't about to get into a row with his best friend when she was just trying to be her usual helpful self. He told her it was okay and then went off to partner with a Slytherin boy with dark red hair.

Class began and they all set off to work on the Girding Potion with their respective partners. About half-way through class, Lily and Peter approached plump Professor Slughorn's desk.

"Hello Professor! I was wondering if you could help clarify a few things for me and my friend Peter..." Lily began unflinchingly.

The professor's great mustache twitched as he smiled back at one of his star pupils. "Yes of course! Of course!" He said with a jolly laugh.

Lily began to ask him all sorts of questions that she obviously already knew the answer to, while Peter stood beside looking a little out of place, and James and Remus sneaked to the storeroom under the invisibility cloak.

The plan was going well so far. Sirius and Adelaide sat in their seats near the far edge of the room, nearest the storeroom, keeping their eyes peeled in case they needed to implement the alternate distraction.

Adelaide was bouncing her leg in nervousness, glancing toward the storeroom every so often while Sirius kept his wand out under the table, his eyes switching between watching Professor Slughorn and glancing to make sure Adelaide didn't accidentally blow up their potion in her distracted state.

"This is taking too long." Adelaide whispered as she halfheartedly worked on their potion assignment.

"Ads. That salamander blood... you're supposed to put in viper venom." Sirius said taking the vial out of her hand and replacing it with the correct one.

"Oh."

Adelaide's anxiety was increasing with each passing minute. She glanced over toward the storeroom, yet again, as she heard a faint sound. It sounded a lot like someone knocking into a shelf full of glass jars.

She quickly scanned the room to see if anyone else had noticed. She was relieved to see that no one seemed to... until she saw a Slytherin boy with dark red hair eyeing the door to the storeroom suspiciously. He was up already, trying to find something for the class assignment along one of the shelves nearby, and was slowly making his way toward the sound.

Adelaide nudged Sirius and nodded her head toward the suspicious Slytherin. "Now might be a good time for that distraction.." she whispered.

Sirius nodded and flicked his wand toward the smoking dung bomb they had planted in the room as class began.

Nothing happened.

He tried again.

Nothing.

"Addy, it's a dud! We have to figure something else out!" He whispered. His heart was racing, this had to work. They had only a week left until they had to start their 'Mandrake Month' as they had nicknamed it, and they had to make sure they had all the key ingredients beforehand.

Adelaide's eyes flashed to the Slytherin slowly walking toward the storeroom, she hesitated for a moment, then sprung up from her seat and walked towards him.

Sirius grabbed her cloak, and hissed, "Addy! What are you doing?!"

"Just trust me." She hissed back.

She walked confidently toward the boy. She instinctively covered her anxiety with her aloof pureblood facade.

"Hello. I don't believe we've formally met." She drawled to the Slytherin boy, reaching out to shake his hand. He looked a little confused. "My name is Adelaide, Adelaide Fawley." She told him.

His eyes lit up in recognition as he shook her hand, seemingly forgetting all about the strange storeroom noise he had heard before.

"My name is Thorfinn Rowle, but you can call me Finn." He said with a smirk. "But you're mistaken. We have most certainly met before." The boy said slyly.

Adelaide racked her brain trying to figure out where she had met him before. He was taller than she was, but not as tall as Sirius, had cold hazel eyes, that were more brown than green, short dark red hair, and the signature air of self-importance that comes with being raised in pureblood society.

That's when it hit her. She _had_ met him. His family came over for dinner over the previous summer.

"Please forgive me Finn, summer was so long ago." She said with a smile that didn't reach her eyes.

His smirk widened. "Well I'm sure you'll have a chance to make it up to me _this_ summer." He said before strutting back to his seat. His implied meaning was clear to her. Adelaide stood in the spot, frozen for a moment before being shaken out of her shock by Sirius.

"Ads? Are you okay? You look pale... well paler then usual." Sirius said in hushed tones, pretending to look for something on the shelves beside them.

"I-I'm fine." She said, faking a smile.

Sirius furrowed his brows and was about to ask her what was actually wrong when suddenly... the smoking dung bomb went off without warning.

"Uuuaarrahhhhh!" Exclaimed literally everyone in the class as Sirius and Adelaide looked on in bemusement.

Sirius chuckled at all the disgusted faces through Smokey haze of the Potions class. "I guess it wasn't a dud after all!"

"C'mon!" Adelaide hissed, pulling him toward the storeroom.

James's floating head appeared as they entered. "Addy! Help! We can't find them!" He said about an octave higher than his normal voice.

She rolled her eyes and pulled out her wand. "Accio Death's-head Hawkmoth chrysalises!"

Suddenly, from the very top of the shelf, zoomed the jar they were looking for. The boys instantly grabbed the chrysalises from the container and then levitated the jar back to its proper place.

"Ads! Where did you learn that?!" Remus's Exclaimed.

"I read ahead in charms," she told them, shrugging as if it was no big deal.

"By 'read ahead' she means she's read all the charms books for the next three years of class." Sirius said with a half smile. "Addykins just did a fourth year spell better than a fourth year probably could." Sirius beamed at Adelaide, lopping an arm over her shoulders. He was quite proud of her and knew she was much too modest to tell them how advanced that spell really was.

Adelaide moved her long white-blonde hair in an effort to hide the blush blooming upon her cheeks and bit her lip to keep from smiling. "Let's just get out of here..."

Class ended shortly after and they were all in especially good spirits, though Adelaide more so than the others. She practically pranced down the corridors towards their next class, Defense Against the Dark Arts, flanked by James and Sirius on either side. Just before they entered the classroom, she spotted her favorite Slytherin on his own way to class.

"Reggie!" She shouted, grinning and waving animatedly at the dark haired first year. Regulus waved with a wide smile and a 'Hi Addy!'

"Regulus looks far too happy. Can't I hex him?" Sirius remarked as they made their way past him and into the class. Adelaide swatted him on the arm.

"No you may not." She scolded, still grinning.

She didn't see Professor Gallagher carefully eyeing her interaction with suspicion.

Once in the room, Adelaide was a little surprised to find that the desks had all been moved back against the walls, leaving a large amount of space open in the middle of the class room.

Professor Gallagher walked into the room, and stood with his hands on his hips. "Today, we will be learning and practicing defensive spells. Now, there is no use sugarcoating that we live in dangerous times. With Dark Magic on the rise," he said giving a subltle look at the platinum blonde girl, "spells like these will be your first line of defense against unfriendly folk. Now, who here can tell me the spell used to disarm an attacker?" He asked the class.

Adelaide raised her hand immediately. Professor Gallagher was a little surprised, by her quick response. Adelaide was not the type to speak up in class. She was often quiet, aloof, and occasionally was caught doodling random animals (cats, dogs, rats, deer..) on the edges of her parchment.

He gestured for her to answer. "Expelliarmus!" She said confidently.

"Right you are Miss Fawley! Now who can name the shield Charm?"

Once again, Adelaide raised her hand immediately. Professor Gallagher waited for a beat, giving time for another student to raise their hand as well, when they didn't he asked her to answer.

"Protego!" She said just as confidently as before.

"Correct again. You seem to have read up on the lesson Miss Fawley," he said with suspicion lacing his voice that Sirius definitely noticed, even if Adelaide did not. "Tell me, can you name the spell used to slow down and obstruct attackers?"

"Impedimenta!" She answered easily. Sirius, didn't like the way he was eyeing her.

"Right again, now let's try something a little more difficult, shall we?" He said moving to the center of the class. "Can you name a stunning spell?" He asked. This was not apart of the coursework that week.

"Um.. S-Stupefy." She answered. She was feeling a bit more uneasy with the look he of as giving her.

"And what would you use to ward off a _dementor?"_ He asked, moving ever closer, brown eyes boring into her intimidatingly. Adelaide suddenly remembered the strange conversation she'd had with him before class a few weeks back. Luckily she was all too familiar with the answer.

"That's not part of the course work!" Lily exclaimed feebly.

"I'm well aware Miss Evans." He snapped.

"It's the Patronus Charm... Sir." She told the professor shortly. Her forest green eyes were narrowed in on the Professor. Why was he singling her out? Shouldn't he be happy that she knew the answers?

"Right again Miss Fawley." He said curtly. Blinded by his suspicions, Professor Gallagher decided to seriously deviate from the course schedule. "Now, while knowing defensive spells is important," he began, addressing the whole class once again, "it is also important to know what type of _dark magic_ you are going up against." The former Auror said casually, walking up to the front of the room.

"How many of you are familiar with the Unforgivable curses?" He asked. Several people raised their hands, but he did not miss the quick looks that immediately flashed in Adelaide's direction by four Gryffindor boys, Lily, and Mary. "Anyone care to name one?" He asked. No one raised their hands this time. "No one?"

Peter, surprisingly, raised his hand and said, "um the-the imperious curse..sir." He said softly, yet loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Correct Mr. Pettigrew. The imperious curse is tricky, it can force someone else to do anything against their will." He stated, "tricky, but not impossible to overcome with the right about of willful determination." He commented casually leaning against his desk.

"Can anyone name another?" He asked, eyes scanning the room and landing on Adelaide who now wore a stoic expression upon her face. She knew he was trying to make a point. About what she wasn't sure. But she had a hunch that he thought her questions about the unforgivable curses were for her own personal use...

"The Killing Curse." Marlene said loudly without raising her hand.

"Yes, Miss McKinnon, I'm afraid you and your family are all too familiar with that particular curse..." he said giving the girl a sympathetic look. "There has never been anyone that has ever survived the killing curse." He said somberly, shaking his head and looking dow.

"Now, can someone please name the last of the three?" He asked the class. Adelaide slowly shuffled closer to Sirius as if by being closer to him, she could some how block out the painful memories that began to replay through her mind. "Ah.. how about you Miss Fawley?" He said with a smile that didn't quite reach his piercing gaze. "You were so eager to answer earlier! And with your father as the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, I'm sure you're aware of this particular spell, given the recent uprise in its use."

Adelaide stood, there in the class with all eyes on her, and suddenly was flashed back into the horrors that had been inflicted upon her. Her hands were shaking and her eyes were shut tightly.

"Why are you picking on her? Can't you see it's upsetting her?!" James snapped at the Professor. Professor Gallagher wasn't quite sure what to make of her reaction.

"It's fine." She said, in a calm voice that did not match her external state. She looked up as tears began to fall down her cheeks with a look of such contempt and resolution that the seasoned Auror was even a little off footed, and quietly began to answer his question. "The Cruciatus Curse." Eyes never wavering from the eyes of the Professor. "Also known as the _torture_ curse." She clarified. Professor Gallagher opened his mouth to speak, but she continued, forest green eyes set on him. "The curse inflicts pain so intense and all consuming that it would have the happiest person alive begging for death. It feels as if white knives are piercing every inch of your skin. As if every nerve in your body is on fire. It's this pain that would make even the strongest admit their darkest secrets just to make the pain cease, and the bravest crumble just to put an end to their agony. While it cannot _physically_ harm the victim, it often leaves lasting psychological scars." She finished.

"Correct." He said simply. "Now the use of any one of these spells is enough to earn you a cell in Azkaban for life..." He began, seeming a bit shaken up.

Adelaide scoffed.

"Not always." She said under her breath. Sirius looked down at his best friend, trying so hard to be strong for her, but felt his heart ache on her behalf.

It was at this moment that Professor Gallagher realized how terribly wrong his assumptions had been. He knew that Filip Fawley and his wife, as well as the Blacks were in league with dark forces. So, when young Adelaide, with all her precociousness, began asking questions about unforgivable curses, he assumed she was following in her parents footsteps. He thought that he might be able to drive her away from the dark arts by expressing the terrifying legal ramifications of using such abominable curses.

Yet now, looking at her with new eyes, he realized that he was oh so very wrong. The face she wore was that of remembrance. The vivid description she gave could have only come from someone who had experienced the curse personally. Professor Gallagher realized that this bright young girl had been tortured. She had been tortured and her attacker had gone free.

Needless to say, class was dismissed early that day and Adelaide was once again a moody mess.

"Addy. Are you okay?" Sirius asked her once they were back in the common room. She nodded, avoiding his eyes. "Addykins please don't lie to me." He said sadly.

"Why does that man feel the need to be a big prick every-time I'm having a good day?" She asked.

"Because he's a sad failed Auror who can't stand to see someone as smart as you show him up." Sirius answered. He was sort of right in some ways.

"I'm really not that smart Sirius..."

"Adelaide Rose Fawley. You listen to me right now. You are absolutely _brilliant_. But more than that you are good and kind and loyal. Honestly, I think some people, like that prick of a professor, find it intimidating, but screw them! You are awesome! ...You know... sometimes I wish you could be as proud of yourself as I am of you." He said smiling at her.

Adelaide blushed for the second time that day. "Thanks toad face."

"Anytime Addykins."


	28. Chapter 28

**Chapter 28- He's a Friend**

It was Friday, May 14th. Classes were over for the day and the weather outside was gorgeous. But where was Adelaide? Stuck in the stupid stuffy library. She sat at the Library table, slumped in her seat, head propped up by her left hand. "I'm. So. Bored." She droned.

"Addy, we've been here for 20 minutes." Lily informed her best friend seated in front of her, never looking up from the old and dusty Transfiguration book she was flipping through.

"I'm aware of that. I'm still bored."

Severus Snape scoffed from his seat beside Lily. Adelaide ignored him.

"Why don't you work on that charms essay?" Mary suggested, turning to the platinum blonde girl beside her.

"I finished that the day Flitwick assigned it." She said slumping down further, her arms folded on the table with her head resting upon them.

"What about the star chart for astronomy?" Lily asked.

"Sirius can help me with that later."

"How about your Herbology essay over leaping toadstools?" Mary asked.

"They're toadstools. They leap. Done." Adelaide said in a bored tone as Lily scowled, Mary puffed out a breath of annoyance, and Severus rolled his eyes. "Ughhh fine. I'll write the bloody essay."

Adelaide lazily opened the baby puke green Encyclopedia of Toadstools and began flipping through the pages to find the leaping variety.

She sat, with her book propped up, hiding the fact that she was not writing her paper, but instead doodling cats upon her parchment for a while until she heard a boy chuckle behind her.

"Hey Sev," the chuckler greeted.

"Hello Evan."

Adelaide whirled around in her seat to see the Slytherin boy whose brown hair fell in front of his blue green eyes. She was surprised to find him looking back.

"Hi addy." He said kindly. "That's a nice drawing you've got there! Is that for a class?"

"ADDY! Are you really doodling _again?!_ You said you were working on your Herbology essay!" Lily exclaimed.

Adelaide gave Evan a dirty look for ratting her out. "Thanks for that..."

Evan looked surprised, but thoroughly amused by the whole situation and sat in the seat next to Adelaide. Lily, Mary, and Severus all looked a little surprised that the two even knew each other... and now this older boy was inviting himself to sit with them?

"So, why cats?" Evan asked with a quizzical look.

"What?" Adelaide asked.

He pointed to the parchment with various cat drawings, some enchanted to leap around and play with scribbles like they were balls of yarn.

"Oh, um... I erm... I dunno, I just think they're cute." She said awkwardly.

"That they are..." he said looking up into her eyes. "How did you get them to jump around like that? I've never seen a spell like that before."

"Oh I um... well it's really just a combination of a couple of charms." She said tucking her hair behind her ear.

"Charms class is the only class Adelaide pays attention in." Mary remarked under her breath.

"That's so cool." Evan flashed his bright white smile, clearly impressed.

"Addy... you know that paper is due tomorrow right?" Lily interjected.

Adelaide groaned. "Yes Lils. I know."

"What's your paper about?" Evan asked politely.

"Stupid leaping toadstools..." She grumbled, grabbing a clean bit of parchment out of her bag.

"Ah.. yeah I remember learning about those... it's worse later on when you have to try to catch them..." Evan said, shuddering at the memory as Adelaide giggled.

Mary peaked out behind Adelaide, her sweet brown eyes wide and doe like. "Um... not to be rude or anything... but who are you?"

Evan stared at her for a moment, then blinked. Then he blinked again. Adelaide nudged him. "O-oh um. I'm E-Evan Rosier.." he said scratching the back of his neck.

"Oh, well it's nice to meet you Evan. I'm Mary McDonald." She said with a sweet smile. "So, how do you know our dear sweet Addy?" Mary asked, genuinely curious. Her big brown eyes directing her full attention to the third year boy.

Evan blinked. "Oh um. Our families are friends." He said distractedly.

"Oh..." Mary's face fell a bit.

Evan noticed this shift in her face and quickly added, "but I'm friends with Regulus too.."

"Oh! Reggie's the sweetest!" Mary exclaimed happily.

Evan smiled his usual dazzling smile. "Yeah, he's the best!" He said, before just looking at Mary for a while.

"So, um... are you planning to study with us?"

"What?"

Adelaide smirked. "Mary asked if you were going to study with us Evan.. you know... because we're in a library or whatever."

"Oh! Um.. well I uh can't.. but Um uh... I uh... I'll see you later Addy.." he said hastily leaving the library looking rather unsettled.

"Well he's a squirrelly one isn't he?" Mary commented with a light chuckle. Adelaide smiled at Evan's sudden shyness.

"He's not usually like that... he gets a bit awkward at times... but never _that_ flustered." she said, highly amused.

"Wait. Addy, are you two actually friends?" Lily asked.

"I mean, yeah I suppose. He's friends with Reg so I just run into him a lot whenever I hang out with him." She half-shrugged. "Sirius doesn't like him."

"Why not? He seemed pretty nice to me.." Mary commented.

Severus looked up, "He _is_ nice." Adelaide had never liked Severus more than at that moment.

"His family is a bit sketchy though, right?" Lily asked warily.

"My family is a bit sketchy, yet here I am." Adelaide said a bit sharply.

Lily was a little surprised by her tone, but knew she had a point.

Adelaide didn't mean to snap at Lily, it was just that she was feeling so conflicted about not telling the girls about her arranged marriage drama. She knew that it wasn't right to keep such a big secret from them... but she also knew how they would either tease her, or do what Sirius did and start plotting to kidnap her. Kidnapping she could handle, but she really wouldn't be able to handle the teasing.

Later, at dinner, Adelaide stopped over to say hello to Regulus, as usual, and saw Evan make his way towards her from down the table. Sirius watched as well from his seat at the Gryffindor table with narrowed eyes.

Adelaide was listening to Regulus go on and on about Merlin learning how to dance or something when Evan stood beside her. "Um Addy, can I talk to you in private."

"Oh! Um yeah sure!" She said, giving Regulus an apologetic look before heading out the Great Hall and into a empty hallway nearby.

Adelaide was a little confused as to why he needed to speak with her alone, and also a bit weary... there was an annoyingly suspicious voice in her head (that sounded an awful lot like Sirius) warning her to not trust him. "So, whats up Evan?"

"I um... well I wanted to ask about.. erm.. you know what, never mind. It's stupid." He said trying to walk back.

"Oh no no no you don't! Come back here!" She told him firmly. He turned slowly and walked back, head down. "Evan. If it's about the whole.. umm.. _arrangement_ thing this summer, it's really not a big deal..."

"Oh! No! It wasn't about that... though that kind of makes everything worse.."

Adelaide lifted an eyebrow. "This wouldn't happen to be about Mary would it?"

"What?! I-I don't know what you're talking about..." he said unconvincingly. Adelaide sighed loudly. Why were all the boys in her life so stubborn?

"You know, after you left so awkwardly, she said you seemed pretty nice." Adelaide informed him with a smirk.

"Really?!" He asked hopefully. Adelaide's smirk widened.

"Mhmm, why don't you and Reg come with us to the game tomorrow? Mary will be there..."

"You don't think they would mind? I don't think Black likes me all that much... not that I'm terribly fond of him myself..."

Adelaide waved him off dismissively. "Oh Sirius will be fine. He's just been overprotective ever since I got sick." She lied. He would definitely mind.

"I mean if you're sure..."

"Yes. Just come with us. It will be fun!" She said with a smile.

"Okay... and Mary's definitely going to be there?" He asked shyly.

"Definitely." Adelaide smirked.

The two made their way back to dinner, but before Adelaide could sit down to finally eat her dinner, she was met by Sirius dragging her out the great hall once again to speak with her.

"Ugh! Sirius! James is going to eat all the mashed potatoes!" She whined grumpily.

"Why were you talking to Rosier?" Sirius asked sternly, grey eyes boring into her own green.

"He wanted to ask me something, but then got nervous and didn't." She answered truthfully.

"Did he hurt you?"

"What?! No! Evan wouldn't do that!"

Sirius looked both relieved and frustrated. "I had to check... I don't like —"

"Yes, yes I know. You don't like him." Adelaide finished impatiently. "But lets be honest here. You only hate him because I might be forced to marry him. Honestly, if that's the case I think your efforts might be better spent loathing Rowle. Now _he_ gives me the creeps..."

"Rowle? Finn Rowle?! He's one of them too?! Addy!! Why didn't you tell me!!" Sirius complained grumpily.

"Because I knew you would react like _this_!" She said gesturing to the huffy boy in front of her with his hands on his hips.

"Ads. You can't just not tell me things because you're afraid of how I'll react. I'm your best friend. We tell each other everything!"

"Fine. You want to know _everything?"_ Adelaide spat. "Well then how about this, I invited Evan to go to the game with us tomorrow."

"You _WHAT_?! Addy! Why?!" Sirius exclaimed.

"Oh there's more. I also was the one who stole your sugar quills last weekend."

"ADDY!"

"And in the spirit of honesty, I feel the need to inform you that your protective act, while very sweet, is incredibly annoying. It's like you don't think I can look out for myself!"

"Addy it's not like that—"

Adelaide felt every big thing weighing on her suddenly bubble up to the surface. "And another thing... it's not about you, so you can calm down. I'm sick and tired of Lily and sometimes even Mary, getting onto me about school and my grades. I get it. I suck at school. But they don't have to rub it in all the time."

"Addy, they're just trying to help.."

"But no one can help, can they? No one can help stupid Adelaide get her grades up. No one can help poor Adelaide with her arranged marriage. Dumbledore can't even help me with my stupid parents, and he defeated freaking Grindelwald!! I'm stuck and I'm so sick of pretending everything is great when it's not." She finished out of breath, tears pooling in her eyes. "Oh and I spilt ink on Dorris."

Sirius looked at Adelaide, tears in her forest green eyes, her brows all creased together, the delicate features of her face twisted in a swirl of emotions.

"Anything else?" He asked calmly.

Adelaide looked at him, her breath quickened and she bit her lip. "Um...well..." she searched his face gnawing on the side of her cheek. "No... Nothing." She lied.

"Liar." He smirked.

"It's... not important." She said.

Sirius shrugged. "Whatever you say Ads...Hang on... why did you invite him? Evan I mean... please tell me you don't like him or something..." Sirius said, horrified.

"NO! OH GOOD MERLIN _NO_! Not like _that!_ He's a friend. Just a friend. He likes Mary anyway."

"Woah! MARY? _Your_ Mary? The nice one that's obsessed with Quidditch?"

"Yeah! Well... he won't admit it. But I know he does. That's why I invited him to the game."

"Ads. I still don't trust him."

She rolled her eyes. "I know you don't. Can we eat now?"

They headed back to the great hall, but just before Adelaide could sit down at the table, Mary grabbed her arm and pulled her out of the Great Hall.

"OH COME ON! I'M STARVING! WHY WON'T ANYONE JUST LET ME EAT MY DAMN DINNER!" Adelaide complained.

Mary ignored her.

"Okay. What was up with _that_?" Mary asked flailing her arms around wildly.

"What was up with what?! I'm hangry! I thought it was obvious!"

"No no no! With Rosier and Sirius!" She asked impatiently.

"Oh... um. Well Evan just wanted to talk to me about something and I ended up inviting him to the Quidditch game with us tomorrow...and Sirius just wanted to know what I talked about with Evan." Adelaide explained.

"You invited Evan?!" Mary asked in disbelief.

"Well yeah..."

Mary squealed. Adelaide was befuddled. Why was this so exciting?

"Oh my goodness! You like him don't you!" She said bouncing on the balls of her feet. Adelaide's eyes grew about three times wider.

"NO! Why does everyone think that?!" She asked, getting more and more worked up. "I don't even like Evan like that! I like S—" Adelaide cut herself off, throwing her hands over her traitorous mouth. Her face drained of color, her breath caught in her throat. She and Mary both stood there in the empty hallway in bewildered silence for a long few moments before she proceeded to try to run away at top speed.

" _Impedimenta_!" Mary exclaimed, pulling out her wand and stopping her best friend from making her escape.

" _Finite_ _Incantatem_!" Adelaide said, freeing herself with wandless magic that neither girl knew she was capable of doing, then running full speed toward her favorite hiding place. Mary was shocked.

"Addy! ADDY COME BACK!" She called out uselessly trying to follow after her.


	29. Chapter 29

**Chapter 29- Change Nothing or Ruin Everything**

"ADDY COME BACK!" She heard Mary call.

 _Of course_ her stupid mouth had to tell Mary the one thing she had sworn she would tell no one.

"ADDY! PLEASE... COME... BACK!" Mary called out of breath from trying to chase her down.

Adelaide kept running.

She ran and ran until she reached the hidden room behind a painting of some wizards having a birthday party. She quickly muttered the password 'let them eat cake' and slipped into the room.

Meanwhile, Mary, who had lost sight of her friend, was hustling back to the great hall. She made her way to the boys... alone... and was met by confused looks, and eyes peering around her to spot their fellow marauder.

"Where's Addy?" James asked.

"Um... she kind of... ran off..."

 _"Ran off?"_ Remus questioned.

"Is she okay? What happened?!" Sirius asked.

"Um. I think she's okay..uh..." Mary had to think fast. Only the boys would know what random place in the castle she would be holed up in, but she had to be careful about who she asked to help.

Sirius was out of the question. Peter was too clueless to be of any help. James might be okay, but Remus was always a very calming presence from what she had seen. When Mary was hysterical after Adelaide first got sick, Remus was the one who helped her stop freaking out and blaming herself. It was ironic really.

"Um.. Remus. Could you please help me find her?"

Remus looked surprised. "Me? Why not Sirius?"

Sirius looked confused. "Yeah, why not Sirius?" He asked.

"Ugh! Remus please just come help me!" She said quickly.

Remus looked hesitant, but eventually agreed to go with her.

Sirius was not happy about Remus going instead, but Adelaide had just vented about how much she hated him trying to protect her, so he thought it might be better to let her be for now.

"Oh we should grab her some food..." Mary said making her a plate, stealing some mashed potatoes off of James's plate.

"Hey! I was eating those!" James said, trying and failing to scoot his plate out of reach.

Once the two were out of the great hall, Remus asked, "Mary, what's all this about?"

Mary sighed loudly, running her hands over her face. "I don't think I can tell you. I don't think she even meant to tell me!" She exclaimed. She obviously had always thought Sirius had a thing for Adelaide, but never realized it could be reciprocated... although it could be someone else whose name started with an 'S'...

"Hmmm... and you said she ran this way?" He said pointing toward a corridor on the third floor. Mary nodded. "I think I know where she went... how about you head back, I'll talk to her."

"Okay... well don't forget the food." She said hesitantly, handing him the dinner plate.

Remus took the plate and made his way toward the painting of the wizards having a birthday party and mumbled the password. He walked in the hidden room to see Adelaide sitting on the floor against the wall with her arms around her knees, quietly pouting.

"Hey Ads... I heard you had quite the work out running up here.." he chuckled sitting beside her. He handed her the plate. "Mary said you'd be hungry..."

Adelaide briefly suspended her pouting to greedily inhale the food. "Thanks Moony." She muttered with her mouth full. She turned to see him looking quite pale and tired, she knew it was getting close to the full moon... and the start of the mandrake month. "Rem.. you don't look so good... you should really go to bed early.."

"I'm fine." He said dismissively with a smile. "Addy. Are you going to tell me what happened?"

"Not if I can help it."

"Is it about Mary?"

"No."

"Is it about what you and Sirius talked about?"

She hesitated. "No." She said quietly. He wasn't fully convinced.

"Hmm... well I saw you talk with Rosier... is it about him?"

"No! It's not about Evan! Seriously? What is it with everyone thinking I like him!?" She said brandishing her mashed potato fork, still speaking with her mouth full. It was definitely not the response he was expecting.

"I never said you liked him!" Remus chuckled, wiping off some mashed potatoes that had been flung onto his shirt. "Ads. I think you'll feel better if you just tell me. You know I can keep a secret."

Adelaide knew he was right. She would most certainly feel better and he definitely could keep a secret, but would it help the situation if he knew the truth? That wasn't clear. So, she just decided not to say anything until she had finished her dinner. Once, she had eaten the last morsel of potatoes from her plate, exhausting all her means of stalling, she placed the plate on the floor beside her and then put her face in her hands.

"I can't tell you. I can't tell anyone." She said in a calm and quiet voice.

"Why not? What's the worst that could happen?"

She looked up with a very serious face. "Best case. It would change nothing. Worse case. It would ruin everything."

Remus was at a loss for what could possibly 'ruin everything'. Obviously his comment about Evan had struck a cord, but why? And why did she leap to conclusions about her fancying him?

He looked at her, trying to read her, but her face was blank. She did this when she was trying to hide her emotions, always had. He was usually pretty good about reading people, but she was nearly impossible when she was closed off like this. Sirius was the only one who could figure her out. Why didn't Mary just get Sirius? Surely he would be more help. Why Remus?

Mary said that Adelaide told her something she didn't mean to tell her... It had to be about Sirius.

Something about Sirius that would change nothing or ruin everything...

Then it hit him all at once.

Adelaide asked Sirius if he would fly her over a puddle, and somehow changed the subject every-time it was brought up, especially when Remus tried pointing out that it's what James offered to do for Lily, whom he most certainly fancied.

She blew up when he even mentioned Evan, saying she didn't fancy him. Maybe she fancied someone else. Maybe she fancied Sirius.

"Addy, do you fancy Siri—" Remus didn't finish his sentence on account of Adelaide sitting up and putting her hands over his mouth.

"SHH SH SHH SHHHHH! DON'T YOU DARE FINSIH THAT SENTENCE REMUS JOHN!" She said loudly with wild eyes.

Remus laughed at his usually pretty calm friend totally losing her composure. She let him go, realizing how crazy she looked.

Yep. He was sure she fancied him. Not only that, but she was terrified. Too terrified to even let him say it out loud.

"Addy. I think I know why you're upset."

"What?"

"I don't know how I didn't see it sooner... you like him don't you? Pad—"

"SHHHHHUUUSSHHHH!!"

She put her hands over the werewolf's mouth once again. Remus merely gave her a 'really?' kind of look.

"Sorry." She mumbled, letting him go and scooting over to reduce her temptation to assault him again.

Of course she was terrified. She was literally having her marriage arranged, and admitting her feelings wouldn't change this fact. He was her best friend, and she was his. Something like this could ruin everything between them. It made perfect sense to him why she would want to pretend she didn't feel anything beyond platonic friendship for Sirius.

"Addy. I get it. I get why you don't want anyone to know and I promise I won't tell a soul."

"You know, I am very tempted to obliviate you and Mary right now."

"You know, I have no doubt that if you managed a spell as advanced as that, Sirius would throw you a parade." Remus smirked. He knew he probably shouldn't have said it, but it was oh so very true.

Adelaide blushed. "Stop it."

"You can't help who you like Addy... just like Sirius can't help how much he likes you."

"OUT! OUT! YOU'VE BEEN KICKED OUT REMUS JOHN LUPIN!"

Remus laughed loudly. She was so strange. Either she was eerily calm and emotionless or she was screaming in his face. He found it hilarious. "Addy! You can't kick me out! This is my hiding spot too!"

"NOT ANYMORE. YOU SHOULD HAVE THOUGHT OF THAT BEFORE. OUT!" She said dramatically, pointing to the door.

Remus merely rolled his eyes. "What do you want me to tell the others?"

"Just tell them I started my period or something. That should keep them away." She mumbled.

Remus blushed slightly. "If I say that, Sirius will freak out trying to give you chocolate and hot water bottles. There's also a good chance he would drag you to see Poppy against your will."

He had a point.

"Uggghhh!! That stupid mutt is too nice! IT'S INFURIATING!"

"He's only that nice because he lik—"

"OUT! WHY ARE YOU STILL HERE?"

"I'm leaving! Okay! I'm leaving! But you should at least talk to Mary about it."

"No."

"But—"

"No."

Remus took a deep breath. He knew she was shutting everyone out in order to protect herself, he did the same thing.

"Addy I know that you think that you can ignore this and pretend it isn't a thing. But, if you build up all these emotional walls for too long, one day you'll be stuck living in a prison of your own making. Don't say I didn't warn you." He said, leaving Adelaide alone to marinade over her stupid feelings.

Adelaide stayed hidden in the room late into the night. She was restless and in need of something to do that would keep her from feeling totally out of control and to stop herself from dwelling on the fact that Remus knew her secret. So, she charmed some interesting pictures upon the tapestried walls and repaired some of the broken furniture laying about. She was in the midst of fixing one of the squashy loveseats when she heard someone enter the room. Her stomach was a bundle of nerves, and she prayed it wouldn't be who she thought it was. It wasn't.

"I like what you've done with the place, Ads!" Said a messy haired boy, pushing up his crooked glasses as he looked around at his best friend's handiwork.

"Thanks prongsy.." she muttered, going back to work on the loveseat.

"Addy, are you okay? You know what. That was a stupid question. Of course you're not." He said shaking his head. "If you were okay, you wouldn't be hiding in here.." He sat down on the large purple love seat she had already fixed and patted the seat beside him for her to sit with him. She was reluctant, but she did join him.

"Ads. You know I love you right? You're like my little sister..."

"Little?!" Adelaide exclaimed, offended.

James chuckled. "Well you are the youngest... and the shortest..."

"You all are just freakishly tall." She grumbled crossing her arms over her chest.

"Addy. You're my best friend. If there's something you need to talk about, I'm here." He said putting an arm around her as she rested her head on his shoulder. Adelaide always liked the nurturing side of James.

"James... you fancy Lily, don't you."

James's face turned a little pink. He hadn't actually admitted this fact to anyone, though it was obvious to everyone. "Yes." He answered softly. Why was she asking this? "Why?"

"I... I'll tell you why I ran away from Mary... but you have to promise not to say anything... you have to solemnly swear it." She said moving her head from his shoulder to look at him.

"Addy. I solemnly swear I will not tell a soul." He said putting his hand to his heart.

James watched as Adelaide scrunched up her little nose making that face she made when she was thinking very hard about what she was going to say. "I accidentally told Mary that I fancied someone."

James blinked. "Who?"

Adelaide gulped. Her breath quickened and she shut her eyes tightly. "I can't." She said shaking her head.

"Is it Evan?"

"NO! Merlin I'm so sick of everyone assuming that it's him." She said exasperatedly.

"Okay, okay! It's not Evan! Are you going to tell me who it is?"

"No."

"Is it Regu-"

"No."

"Is it S—"

"Please stop. I'm not telling you." She said calmly... only Sirius would have been able to see the panic brewing within her eyes.

"Okay. Well will you at least come back to the dorm?"

Adelaide ran her hands through her platinum blonde hair. "If I go back, Mary will ask a bunch of questions and/ or tease me."

"Well then just cast a silencing charm on her! Problem solved!" James said winking and bumping shoulders with his best friend. She knew he was kidding, but it was a legitimate solution.

"That is truly an excellent idea, Prongsy." She said smiling slightly up at him.

And with that, the two curfew breaking, mashed potato loving Gryffindors, climbed up the stairs under the invisibility cloak to the dormitories.


	30. Chapter 30

**Chapter 30-** **Prideful Poodles Prejudiced Toads**

Adelaide Rose Fawley may have had a slight crush on her best friend, but unless you took the time to notice, you'd never know. For Adelaide Fawley was a very good actress when she needed to be. She acted as if absolutely nothing had happened that Friday evening so convincingly, that later, Mary, Remus, and James were all half convinced that they had just dreamed the whole thing up. Rest assured, they certainly hadn't dreamed it.

When Adelaide and James returned to the common room the evening of the big Revelation, Mary instantly stood up from where she had been waiting upon the squashy couch by the dying fireplace.

James tried very hard to tell her to let the subject drop for the night through his Facial expressions. He was unsuccessful.

"ADDY!" Mary exclaimed, running and squishing the smaller girl in a fierce hug. "Addy! I'm so sorry! I shouldn't have said anything! I'm so so sorry!"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Adelaide said, feigning ignorance, pulling free from the brunette's clutches.

"Huh? But I thought... and you almost said..."

"You seem a bit tired Mary... we should get to bed." Adelaide said, feigning concern.

Mary shared a confused look with James who seemed just as bemused by her behavior as herself, but did eventually go off to bed as Adelaide suggested.

The next day, Saturday May 15th, was the day of the big Quidditch game, Ravenclaw vs Hufflepuff, which Adelaide and her friends would be spending alongside Evan and Regulus.

Adelaide got ready then went down to breakfast before any of her friends. She sat, lazily eating her oatmeal and toast in peace, reading up on silencing charms (you know...just in case), when a small mousey brown haired girl wearing a pink headband sat herself across from her.

The girl, clad in a pink dress, cleared her throat. "Hem hem". Adelaide looked up from her book and stared at the nuisance in front of her, then lazily returned to eating her breakfast and reading. Dollie was not worth her time.

"Hem hem.. Adelaide? I believe we got off on the wrong foot. I wanted to reintroduce myself so that we could get re-acquainted." She said in her breathy high voice. It was like nails on a chalkboard.

"I'd really rather not." She said, never looking up from her book.

"I believe it would be wise, especially since we will be spending time together over the summer..."

"Oh hell no! There is no way I'm marrying you!" Adelaide exclaimed, completely disgusted and finally looking up to the toad faced prejudicial twit.

Dollie giggled her high pitched affected laugh. "Oh you are a silly one! No I will not be marrying you, but I will be staying for a while while I'm visiting my cousins."

"You're cousins?! Who the hell are your cousins?!" Adelaide asked, not even waiting to finish swallowing her toast.

Dollie made a disgusted look and leaned back subtly. "Robert and Rebecca Selwyn." She informed. "They go to Durmstrang... father wanted me to spend more time in proper society. You know, make connections and the like." She finished eyeing the girls disheveled appearance. In addition to Adelaide's late night brooding, she also had trouble sleeping. So, she had a lovely pair of deep purple circles under her eyes, complimented by her messy light blonde hair which had been tied up into an untidy bun, and a wrinkled Hogwarts Quidditch T-shirt tucked into her jean skirt.

"And your parents thought my house was proper society?" Adelaide snorted.

Dollie was offended by this, but was not to be deterred by the barbaric daughter of pureblood royalty. "My father believes so, yes." She said in an overtly dignified manner with her nose in the air. "What are you reading?" She asked.

"A book." Adelaide deadpanned. Why wouldn't this little toad just leave?

"I can see that. What type of book?" She asked too sweetly.

Adelaide rolled her eyes. "It's an advanced charm book, I'm brushing up on silencing spells." She said eyeing the girl with a sinister smirk. "Would you like me to demonstrate?" She asked in a mockingly sweet voice.

Dollies eyes grew wide. "I don't think that's necessary.."

"There you are Addy! We thought you ran off again!" Sirius called out from the entrance of the Hall making his way over to his best friend. He eyed Dollie with contempt. "Oi, why is there a toad on the table?" He asked Adelaide whose smirk widened.

"Well. It was lovely chatting with you. See you around." Dollie said hastily as she clumsily got up to leave and went back to the Slytherin table.

"Do you know any cleaning spells? I don't want her slime to get on me." Sirius said with a disgusted look. Dollie happened to be sitting in his usual seat. Adelaide pulled out her wand and scrubbed the seat and table clean with a mischievous smirk. "Thank you!" Sirius said relieved. "So, Ads. I have several questions, but I would like to start with why Toad-face was sitting in my seat." He said, grabbing some muffins and sausage.

Adelaide sighed, then relayed the whole stupid conversation to him.

"Heh heh. You should still try to silence her." He said smirking wide. "Can't believe you have to hang out with her over the summer though..."

"I can see in your eyes that you are plotting to kidnap me. Please stop. It's too early. Maybe at lunch or something."

Sirius chuckled. "So, next question. Why did you run away last night? Even Peter was worried. Well... more worried than usual."

Adelaide had been expecting this question. Part of the reason she hardly slept the night before, was to formulate the best possible answer. She put on her face of indifference, then told him her rehearsed response. "She thought I fancied Evan, I got mad at her because I was hangry, and ran away. I over reacted, but it's fine now." She said. "Also I fixed all the furniture in the secret room." She added off handedly.

"Oh! Well that makes sense I suppose.." he knew that she wasn't lying... but she wasn't exactly telling the truth either. "So, do we really still have to go to the game with Rosier and Reg?"

"Yes! I invited them! It would be rude to say they can't go with us now!"

"Well I was just thinking that maybe we ditch the game today.." he said. Adelaide looked shocked and offended. "I thought it might be good to get things ready for tomorrow... you know when we start the _thing,_ and to visit Moony. He thew up this morning because of the _you know what_ tomorrow and James sent him to the hospital wing."

Adelaide's eyes softened. "Well maybe we can leave early... it might be good to give Evan some time to actually talk to Mary anyway." She chuckled, remembering how he could hardly get a word out in front of her.

Sirius's face lit up. "Great! I'm so excited for tomorrow!" He said bouncing in his seat. His enthusiasm was infectious.

"Me too!" Adelaide said, equally as excited. "Though I am a little worried about how we're going to manage a whole month with those things in our mouths..." she trailed off.

"Meh, we'll figure something out." Sirius said with a shrug. Ever the optimist.

The others, minus Remus, eventually filtered into the the great hall for breakfast. James, of course, had a fistful of wildflowers ready for Lily when she walked in. She looked annoyed, but put one daisy in her auburn hair for the game. James nearly wet himself with joy.

After breakfast, they walked along the sunny grounds and met up with Evan and Regulus by a big rock on their way to the Quidditch pitch. To their surprise, Severus was there too.

"No no no! I did not sign up to go to a game with Snivellus! I'd rather shovel hippogriff dung than hang out with that grease ball!" Sirius exclaimed.

"Sorry, but same here Ads. Not happening." James said crossing his arms over his chest and glaring at his greasy haired archenemy.

Lily scowled at both of them. "Just when I thought you two were almost okay!" She yelled, taking the flower out of her hair, throwing it on the ground, and stepping on it (and by extension James Potters heart) with her shoe. She then huffily left to stand with the Slytherins with Mary, leaving Addy to talk to her boys.

"Really James?!" She said exasperatedly putting her hands on her hips.

"What about Sirius?! He's the one who said it first!" James defended. He hated when she scolded him.

"Oh I'll get to him! Don't worry!" She said with anger in her eyes. Sirius looked both scared and offended. "Would it kill you to not act like a baboon for one day!" She screeched. James mumbled a 'it might'. She then turned her attention to her curly headed friend. "And You! You prideful poodle! You were just looking for an excuse to get out of this weren't you!"

"What!? No! I just don't want to sit by Sketchy McGreasyhead over there." He said pointing at Severus.

"Whatever." She muttered, obviously not convinced. "Just go! Go be annoying prats somewhere else. I don't want to deal with it today." She said shooing them away and pinching the bridge of her nose with her eyes closed.

"Fine. Wormy, are you coming?" Sirius asked to the blonde boy, looking on in bewilderment. Adelaide gave him a scary look and he nodded, shuffling away with the two taller boys.

Adelaide watched them go. Feeling upset, but also sad that they wouldn't be hanging out with her. She turned and padded her way through the soft grass to where the others were.

"I can't believe you told off Sirius like that!" Evan exclaimed. Regulus didn't look all that surprised.

"It's not like it was the first time." She told him, slightly annoyed.

"Yeah, they got in a huge fight at Christmas..." regulus added. Adelaide frowned at the memory.

"Let's just go watch the game, yeah?" She said linking arms with Regulus and trotting off to the Quidditch pitch. Lily chatted with Severus, as always, leaving Mary and Evan alone. Maybe the boys leaving wasn't such a bad idea after all.

"LETS GO YOU BLOODY PUFFS! THROW THE DAMN QUAFFLE!" Mary bellowed. Only Mary could get so worked up about a quidditch match where her own team wasn't even playing.

Evan found it adorable.

The game ended with Hufflepuff, Mary's chosen side, as the victor. She and Evan seemed to get on quite well, even Regulus noticed. "They seem chummy, don't they?" the younger boy told Adelaide with a smirk.

"They do don't they, Reggie." She replied with a giggle. Mary and Evan chatted and walked up to the castle ahead of them in the best of spirits... until Mary slapped him across the face.

Everyone looked shocked, but especially Evan.

"HOW _DARE_ YOU!!! HOW DARE YOU CALL HER THAT VILE WORD!! YOU ARE NOTHING BUT A PREJUDICED TOAD EVAN ROSIER!!" Mary screamed in his face then stomped away, leaving him frozen in place.

"What the hell did you do Evan?!" Adelaide asked loudly, running up to catch up to where he was standing.

Evan's eyes flashed to Lily. "I-I.. I thought.. I... I have to go." He said before briskly walking off.

Adelaide ran to catch up with Mary, and eventually found her pacing the common room, absolutely seething, muttering curses under her breath.

"Mary! What the hell!?" Adelaide exclaimed, throwing her arms around wildly.

"He- he.." Mary's eyes flashed to Lily. "He called Lily a mudblood." She growled.

And in that moment, all fondness and hope that Adelaide had for Evan was extinguished. He wasn't like her or Sirius. He was just like the rest of them.


	31. Chapter 31

**Chapter 31-You Don't Get To Call Me Addy**

Upon hearing the news that Evan called her best friend the "M-word", Adelaide first stayed to console a hurt Lily Evans and an outraged Mary McDonald. She wasn't exactly the best person for the job, but they seemed somewhat stable when she left to find the boys. She checked the dorm and saw that it was empty then ran off to the hospital wing.

She found them all hanging around Remus in his hospital bed, huddled over the map with her security charms book beside it. Remus was reading some muggle adventure novel about pirates. They were all a little surprised to see her, and James and Sirius both instantly apologized for being annoying gits earlier. She cut them off and quickly retold them the events of the day.

"HE CALLED HER A WHAT?!" James cried out indignantly.

"I KNEW IT! I KNEW HE WAS A TOTAL ARSEHOLE!" Sirius screamed.

"If you cannot keep your voices at a decent level you will have to leave!" Poppy exclaimed.

"Sorry Poppy." they said in unison before returning to their conversation.

"I really thought Evan was nicer than that..." Peter said with his eyebrows furrowed.

"So did I Pete... So did I..." Adelaide said morosely.

"Cheer up Ads. At least we know now." Sirius said giving a sympathetic smile. He knew she had been hoping Evan was different from the other crazy pureblood Slytherins they knew. He knew she wanted to believe he could be good and that there were other good apples that came from rotten trees like they had. But the sooner she realized what a fluke it was that they were both lions amidst a slithering sea or snakes, the better.

"Yeah... now we know..." she mumbled nodding slowly.

* * *

"Addy please! Please just listen! Addy—"

Adelaide calmly struck Evan Rosier with a silencing spell on the following day, Sunday May 16th. "No. And don't call me Addy anymore you toad." She said coldly, leaving the silent Slytherin in the hall as she made her way from lunch to the secret room where she would meet the boys and Lily (who very much did not want to be there).

"Addy!" Called the high voice of a younger boy from down the hall. Adelaide kept walking, not in much of a mood to socialize. "Wait up Ads!" The boy called out of breath, trotting closer until he was beside her. "Addy! He can explain! Just hear him out!"

Adelaide turned quickly and furiously to meet eyes with the dark haired boy. "There is nothing to explain. Now please let me get on with my business Reggie before I have to put a silencing spell on you too." She said with forced calmness.

"Addy... don't be like this.."

"I have to go Reggie." She said, mussing up his hair. He didn't even try to fix it.

Adelaide kept walking until she reached the secret room. She muttered the password to the birthday partying wizards who opened the portrait door for her and then quietly slipped into the room. She looked around the room and was quite pleased about how it was coming along. When they found it the year before it was dusty and full of cobwebs, the furniture was broken and the tapestries were simply hideous in her opinion. But now, since she fixed it up in her brooding, it was clean, bright, lively, and radiated a sense of hope and adventure. It was the perfect spot for them to kick off the first real phase of the process to becoming Animagi.

She was the first one there and took it upon herself to set down the box of leaves they would need then curled up on the old purple couch and began listing out the spells they would use for the map.

"Hey Ads! Merlin, you got here fast..." Peter commented a bit out of breath. "I saw Evan try to talk to you earlier..." the boy said grumpily. "I was going to hex him if he didn't leave you alone."

Adelaide smiled. Peter was generally fearful and was the worst at keeping secrets, but he was also incredibly sweet at times. She and the other boys often took this for granted.

"Thanks Wormy." She said with a little smile. "Where are the others?"

"Um well Moony is in the hospital wing still, Padfoot was with Prongs, and Prongs was bothering Evans. But I think they were headed this way."

"Figures." Adelaide said with a sigh.

"I'm sorry about Evan." Peter said sitting beside her. "I know he was your friend." He said sympathetically. Adelaide looked over at him with a sad smile.

Suddenly, an auburn heard girl and two gangly boys rushed into the secret room. "I AM HERE FOR ADELAIDE NOT YOU SO STOP TALKING TO ME POTTER." Lily yelled at the messy haired boy. Adelaide looked on wide eyed. Lily was very angry. More than usual.

"Uhuumm hi Lils." Adelaide greeted hesitantly. "Hey guys."

"Oh good you have everything out already. This shouldn't take long." Lily said, ignoring Addy's greeting.

"Hey Addykins! Woah! This place looks awesome!" Sirius said, looking in awe around the room.

Adelaide ducked her head to dig for nothing in particular out of her bag so as to hide her slight blush. If Remus was there, he would have smirked.

"It was all Addy!" James informed his friend proudly.

"Wow Ads! I'm impressed!" Sirius said with a big smile. Adelaide blushed again.

"Thanks, so Lily, now that we're all here, how about we get started?" She suggested.

"Don't we need to wait for Remus?" Lily asked.

"Remmy's not feeling well. He's in the hospital wing." James said quickly.

"Oh! Is he alright?" Lily asked concerned.

"He's fine, he just has a bad cold or something. He'll be better in a few days." James told her, smiling a bit as he realized she was speaking to him civilly.

"Oh... well let's get to work then.." Lily said, pulling out her clipboard. "umm.. huh... I think all you do is put the leaf in your mouth.. I really expected it to be more complicated than that..." Lily said pursing her lips and now seriously wondering why she had to be there.

"Well perfect!" James said happily.

"Wait, have any of you put any thought into how you are going to manage to keep those things in your mouth all that time?" Lily asked. Everyone looked back at her wide eyed. No, they hadn't. Well, Adelaide had worried about it, but hadn't really put much thought into it beyond that.

Lily signed exasperatedly. "Well lucky for you I have." she informed them huffily. "I think the best route would be to keep it under your tongue when you eat, and to the back of your mouth between your molars and your cheek when you are just going about your day. I thought it may be good to fold it up or something, but I practiced with some lettuce and you might accidentally swallow it if you do that..."

The group was grateful for Lily's research, and by extension her commitment to the project. They honestly would never be so far so soon in their plan if they didn't have her around.

"Lily... You know... We have an extra leaf... if you wanted to...you know... do it with us... we can always teach you the Patronus charm! You're almost as good as Addy! I bet you'd pick it up in no time!" James said. Lily looked mostly annoyed that he was speaking to her, but also a little conflicted.

"No... I-I Couldn't. It's illegal." she said shaking her head. Adelaide and Sirius shared a look.

"I mean, it's only illegal because it's dangerous... you could do it. Wouldn't it be cool?!" Addy said.

"NO. No I'm not doing it." She said resolutely. "Just put these things in your mouths already. I told Sev I would meet him in the library." She said shortly.

They all fought the urge to make a comment about the greasy haired boy. Sirius was unsuccessful.

"Slimy git.." he murmured to Adelaide under his breath. Lily ignored him and handed out the leaves.

"okay, there we go... now I have to warn you... from what I've read, they will taste a little bitter to begin with, but you should get used to it over time." Lily said .

One by one the four Gryffindors placed the leaves into their mouths.

"AHHKK! This is worse than that green sludge Poppy gave me when I was sick." Adelaide said with a bit of a lisp.

Sirius made a highly disgusted face, scrunching up his nose. James made a similar look. Peter had his eyes closed in an almost crying face.

"I mean its nothing compared to what M-" Peter began before Adelaide launched herself over to him, with her hands over his mouth. She saw realization flash in Peter's eyes. He didn't mean to always almost spill the beans.. it just kind of happened. "Sorry." He muttered with a very apparent lisp once Adelaide had let him go free.

Lily was curious as to what all secrets these trouble makers had... but was more worried about being late to meet her friend to ruminate over it at the present moment.

"Well I should be off..." Lily said, leaving without waiting for a reply.

"One whole month of this?" Sirius asked sadly to no one in particular, excitement noticeably dimmed.

* * *

Monday, a week and a day later, Adelaide sat alone, sulking on a bench in the transfiguration courtyard, actually reading for her lessons that day. Her new found focus on school was a combination of wanting to bring up her grades before going back home, and wanting a distraction from both the annoying leaf in her mouth and the annoying third year boy who kept pestering her.

She had successfully avoided the pest, also known as Evan Rosier, for the past week, despite his pleads. She usually silenced him or ran off before he could get very far in his little speech, but it still bothered her that he wouldn't just let her loathe him in peace. There was, in her opinion, nothing that could justify him using that word against her best friend. Besides, he never said he wanted to apologize for his actions, only that he wanted to 'explain'.

She was even more aggravated that he had dragged Regulus into it. Regulus was good. Timid, but good. She had never heard him use such language, he was also always kind to Lily despite the fact that she was a muggle born.

Adelaide jumped a bit as the pest pulled down the book she was reading, his blue-green eyes looking at her in desperation. "Addy... Please. Please just let me explain..." Evan began for the umpteenth time.

"NO EVAN. YOU DON'T GET TO CALL ME ADDY, AND YOU DON'T GET TO EXPLAIN. JUST LEAVE ME _ALONE_!" she yelled in his face with a slight lisp, nostrils flaring before walking off in a huff.

"I DIDN'T MEAN IT ADDY!" The older boy called out behind her, she stopped momentarily.

"But you still said it." She said, without turning around. Evan didn't reply. She kept walking.

Adelaide made her way to history of Magic and slumped down in her seat beside Mary.

"Ads... you look more gloomy than usual... Want some Smarties?" She asked handing her what looked like a roll of candy pills.

"What in the name of Merlin is that?" Adelaide asked shortly.

Mary shrugged popping the candy in her mouth. "Muggle candy. My aunt Sally sent it to me. Kind of tastes like chalk, but in a good way... here just try it."

Adelaide gave the candy a skeptical look, but ate it anyway. It indeed tasted like sugary chalk.

"So... Is Evan still bugging you?" Mary asked. Adelaide nodded. "hmm.. You know he seems pretty put out about the whole thing.."

"He should." Adelaide retorted shortly.

"I mean... he didn't exactly use the word maliciously..." Mary began.

"It doesn't matter. He still used it. Now, if you don't mind, I would like to finish reading this before class starts." Adelaide snapped at the brown haired girl.

"You know, I'm really getting tired of you always snapping at me. I've been nothing but nice to you, but you seem to always take it for granted." Mary told her friend. "I cant even have a simple conversation without you trying to bite my head off!"

Adelaide was really grumpy now.

"Well then maybe you should learn when to let things drop." Adelaide snapped back coldly, annoyed.

"You know what Addy... you can sit by yourself today. I'd rather sit next to Dollie than you."

Adelaide immediately regretted her actions. She was holding on to too many secrets and feelings and felt like she was going to burst at any given moment, which had inadvertently resulted in her snapping at everyone; Mary, the boys, Regulus. It was like the words left her mouth before she had a chance to stop them, and when they were out in the world they were sharp and cold.. not unlike her parents words. This made her more upset.

Remus, who was the only one of the boys who was in the class at the time, took up Mary's seat and gave her a comforting pat on the back.

"I'm a terrible friend Remmy." she whispered miserably running her hands over her face.

"No, you're just a moody one." he whispered back. "But, I think you'll feel better if you tell Mary everything about Evan..." He added.

"I don't want to..." She muttered.

"Yes, well I didn't particularly want you lot to know my secret... but now, I'm glad you do."

"Fair point," Adelaide commented, surprising Remus, "I think I'll just wait for her to figure it out on her own like we did with you." She said stubbornly. Remus rolled his eyes, but stayed sat beside his moody friend for the rest of class.


	32. Chapter 32

**Chapter 32- Little Porskoff**

The days leading up to The Marauders end of year exams were tense, much tenser than last year.

Remus had given up studying in the library completely, and resigned himself to the secret room... changing the password so the others couldn't disturb him.

James begged animatedly for Lily to help him study, which she did... _once_. That was enough for her to know that he, in fact, somehow knew all the information already and didn't actually need any help at all.

Peter, however, did. He often tagged along with Lily at her study sessions with Mary and Marlene... Severus Snape, who usually studied with his auburn haired friend, refused to join when the small blonde Marauder was in attendance.

As for Sirius, he mostly spent time studying with Adelaide, who had become nearly obsessive in her end of term revision. He also happened to be the only one who could stand to be around the moody girl.

Adelaide's fowl disposition and tendency to verbally lash out against her friends, had only continued to worsen over the past few weeks. On top of the pressure to finish the map, study for exams, and keep the stupid leaf from falling out of her mouth, she was also faced with a daily reminder of her impending summer of doom, and future grooms, in the form of Evan Rosier.

She hardly ate. She hardly spoke, and when she did it was short and cold. Even worse, she was completely aware of the way her actions were hurting and pushing her friends away. She only wished she could be as successful in pushing away Evan, who's pleas for her to 'let him explain' had become part of her daily routine. On the bright side, she had become rather proficient at silencing spells.

All of her friends had tried to put up with her volatile condition, but in the end, even Remus had begun to steer clear of the walking time bomb with blonde hair. Sirius however, saw that behind her harsh words and icy demeanor, she was just trying to cope with her haunting anxiety. Yes. It bothered him a great deal when she would yell at him for being a 'big blithering idiot', but he knew she didn't mean it. He knew she was in need of something to snap her out of her funk, but he wasn't sure what that was.

It was the last weekend of May, the last weekend before they took their end of term exams, and Adelaide and Sirius were sitting on the floor of the boys room, surrounded by a sea of books, notes, and flash cards.

"Name the ingredients used in the making of a Sleeping Draught." Adelaide quizzed Sirius for the billionth time.

"Valerian sprigs, standard ingredient, flobberworm mucus, aaannnnd..."

"And?!"

Sirius rolled onto his back upon the floor. "Ugh! I don't know Addy!"

"It's a flower." She said shortly.

"Roses?" He guessed, knowing good and well it was the wrong answer.

"It's my favorite flower..." she said giving him another hint.

"Oh! Lavender!" He said with a bright smile, rolling over onto his stomach.

"Correct!" She smiled back. Sirius liked seeing her genuinely happy for once.

"Here hand me the notes, let me torture.. I mean _quiz_ you for a while." He winked. She rolled her eyes but handed him the paper.

She sat cross legged in front of him, idly petting Dorris's ink stained faux fur.

"Name the ingredients used innnn... swelling solution." Sirius quizzed.

"Puffer-fish eyes, dried nettle, and bat spleens." She said quickly.

"Right, um what about... oh you should know this one, hair raising potion."

"Rat tails, porcupine quills, and um... Billywig wings." She said lilting her voice in a way that sounded more like a question

"Um... Billywig stings... not wings." Sirius corrected.

Adelaide groaned and threw Dorris across the room, straight at the Potions book laying on James's bed.

"Hey hey! Let's leave poor Dorris out of this!" Sirius chuckled, grabbing the ink-stained stuffed animal and tossing it back to her grumbling owner.

"I should have known that! Ugh! I'm so stupid!" She said muttering curses under her breath.

"Addykins you're not stupid!"

"Then why can't I remember something so simple!" She whined grumpily.

"Because your brain is probably fried from studying so much. Come on, lunch is about to start, we can grab something to eat and then keep going after." He suggested. Honestly, he would rather go flying with James and a few of his Quidditch friends this afternoon, but there was no way Addy would take a break to join him.

"No. You go on, I'm going to stay here." She said with her nose in a book.

"Adelaide, you didn't eat breakfast. You can't skip lunch too." He stated firmly. She waved him off, never looking up.

Sirius snatched the book out of her hands.

"YOU PADFOOTED IDIOT! GIVE IT BACK!" She yelled, face turning a bit red with her sudden anger, her eyes fixed on him like a bird of prey, her usually soft, delicate face looking dangerous and hard. She looked very similar to Cathryn Fawley in that moment.

"NO!" Sirius said tossing the book aside. "You are going to go eat! I refuse to let my best friend starve herself for some stupid exam!"

"You don't get to tell me what to do Padfoot!" She spat viciously standing up.

"I'M TRYING TO HELP YOU!" Sirius screamed throwing his arms in the air.

"THEN STOP." She yelled back before throwing Dorris at him and stomping off out of the room. Sirius was furious and let her go, but after a minute he ran after her.

He flew down the stairs to the common room but quickly realized she wasn't there. "ADDY! ADDYKINS!" He yelled looking around under the furniture. You never know, maybe she was hiding under the couch or something.

"Um.. I think she went up to her dorm mate." Said a stocky ginger seventh year.

"What?"

"You're looking for your friend right? Short, white hair?" Asked another boy who looked exactly like him.

"Um yeah..."

"Yeah she screamed something about a _deranged dog_ and ran up to the girl's dorms." Said the first boy.

"Erm... thanks uh.." he had no idea what this boy's name was.

"Gideon!" He supplied. "And this ugly chap is Fabian." he smirked pointing a thumb to his identical brother.

"Oh well thanks... um... do you happen to know how I can get up there?" Sirius asked the two gingers.

They laughed. He was slightly offended. "You can't, but... I think we can find someone who can..." said Fabian with a sly grin. "Oi! Emmeline!" He called out to a girl who had to be in their same year.

The girl looked rather stately, despite her youth, with long straight brown hair, pulled back in two berets, and deep blue almond shaped eyes.

"What do you want now Fabe?" She asked in a resigned tone.

"This little chap needs help with his lady friend." Gideon smirked. Sirius blushed very faintly.

"She's my friend." Sirius interjected. "We were studying and she got mad at me and ran up to the girls dorms." He explained. "But she didn't eat breakfast, and hardly had any dinner last night, and she needs to go down to lunch before she keels over and dies or something!" He said flailing his arms around dramatically.

The girl named Emmeline giggled slightly at the boy's theatrics.

"Come on Em, can't you just go fetch the poor boy's gal for him? Just look at that face, he looks like a kicked puppy!" Fabian exclaimed pointing to Sirius, who indeed resembled a sad dog.

Emmeline pursed her lips and looked hard at the boy. "Oh fine! What dorm is she in?"

Sirius cheered up instantly. "Second year! Her name's Addy- erm.. Adelaide."

"Oh. Fawley?" She asked. Both the ginger boys recognized the name as well.

"Um.. yeah.." Sirius answered slowly, not knowing how to take the realization in their eyes.

"That little thing is the one Potter keeps going on about?" Gideon asked incredulously.

"Huh?" Sirius had no idea that James even knew these older boys.

"They were the beaters for the Quidditch team." Emmeline informed the confused boy.

"Potter kept going on all season about his Fawley friend! He said she had the best arm on her since Petrova Porskoff!" Fabian exclaimed.

"Oh she definitely has an arm on her..." Sirius grumbled, rubbing the place on his cheek where she had hurled the purple stuffed animal at his face only minutes before.

"Well I'll leave you boys to the Quidditch talk and go try to get little Porskoff down from her tower before she dies of starvation..." Emmeline said with a half smile before going up the girls staircase to the second year dorm.

She reached the dorm and lightly wrapped her knuckles upon the wooden door.

"Go away." Moaned a voice from within.

Emmeline knocked again out of courtesy, then slowly opened the large wooden door. She looked around the somewhat untidy dormitory, and found a mass of platinum blonde hair hiding a girl laying face first upon her pillow. Her bed was messy and unmade, her desk littered with notes, broken quills, and dried up ink bottles. Diagrams of plant parts and properties were pinned up upon her wall next to a Hollyhead Harpies banner. Her dresser was littered with small note-cards scattered amongst a fancy silver-plated hairbrush and a very pretty compact mirror.

"Um. Adelaide?" Emmeline said gently.

Adelaide instantly sat up, hair going a bit wild around her and stared at the older girl standing in her dormitory.

"Yes..." she answered.

Emmeline walked towards the suspicious girl. "My name is Emmeline Vance, your friend downstairs is worried your going to die of starvation" she said with a slight giggle, sitting upon the next bed over from the girl, Mary's bed.

"Uugghh! That stupid poodle!" She exclaimed, scrunching up her nose.

Emmeline chuckled at her choice of words. "He did look rather like a kicked puppy..." she remarked as the girl continued to grumble. Emmeline looked over the girl, noticing the dark circles under her deep set eyes, her dirty disheveled hair, wrinkled clothes, tense shoulders, and generally untidy surroundings. "Adelaide, sweetie, is something wrong?"

Adelaide looked at the older girl with deep blue eyes. Her face was so concerned, her voice so tender and genuine. "I—" Adelaide surprised both of them and broke down into sobs. It was like all the emotions she had tried to burry deep down were catching up to her in that moment.

Emmeline rushed over to her, conjuring some tissues for her, and comforted the tired and overwhelmed second year girl. "E-Everything i-is wrong." Adelaide said trying to steady herself. "I've been s-so—so mean to all my friends, they probably _hate_ me! And I f-feel so-so stupid!" She cried.

"From what I see, you have at least _one_ friend who doesn't hate you." She said referring to the boy downstairs. "And I'm _sure_ you are not stupid. Potter goes on all the time about how great you are at charms, after he's blabbed about your Quidditch skills of course." She laughed, rubbing soothing circles on Adelaide's back.

"Y-you know Pron—James?" Adelaide asked looking up.

Emmeline laughed. "Yes, well I hang out with the Prewett twins, or rather they stalk me, but they usually drag various other Quidditch members along with them."

Adelaide gave a little breath of a laugh and a small sniffly smile. They sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes. Adelaide, who had rarely ever experienced the comforting presence of a mother growing up, felt very at ease by this patient, nurturing older girl. "I feel like I have to be perfect... and I'm not very good at it." She said in a very small voice.

"That's an awful lot to live up to..." Emmeline said calmly. "You know, being imperfect is a big part of life. Sometimes you fail, sometimes things don't go the way we want them to, and it sucks.. but to expect yourself to be perfect all the time is expecting the impossible. I know from experience how tempting it is to compare yourself to some impossible standard, but it will only leave you feeling empty sweetie. You need to be kinder to yourself. Give yourself some grace."

Emmeline saw bloodshot forest green eyes look up to her with a hint of hope. "You're very nice." The younger girl said bluntly.

Emmeline chuckled. "Just imparting some wisdom before I go off into the real world." She said with a laugh. Adelaide's stomach growled... rather loudly. "Come on, let's get you downstairs before your friend enlists Fabian to levitate him up here."

Adelaide quickly washed her face, tied her long hair up in a bun, pulling herself together, then headed downstairs with Emmeline. She stepped into the common room to see Sirius having an animated discussion with two older redheaded boys, they must've been the twins Emmeline was talking about..

"Look who it is!" Gideon exclaimed excitedly with his arms in the air.

"Little Porskoff! You're alive!" Fabian said loudly with a big grin.

"Huh? Porskoff? The chaser?" Adelaide asked, completely confused.

"Long story.." Sirius muttered. "You um ready to go to lunch Ads?" He asked hesitantly, as if one wrong word would set her off and she would start hurling objects at him. It was a valid fear.

She smiled softly and nodded. Sirius instantly brightened up. The two left to go off to lunch in considerably better spirits, and Adelaide mentioning how maybe they should go flying afterwords.

"Those two are so cute..." Emmeline said with a smile as she and the two brothers watched the them leave.

"Not as cute as you.." Fabian commented, winking at the girl, and subsequently earning a whack upside the head.


	33. Chapter 33

**Chapter 33- Stop Smiling Fawley**

Emmeline Vance was casually eating her lunch the week of exams for everyone that wasn't a 5th or 7th year, when she was startled by the tight embrace of a gangly, messy haired boy with crooked glasses. (Fabian glared ever so slightly at the hugging boy.)

"Oomph!"

"Thank you thank you thank you Em! You are a miracle worker! I don't know what you said to her, but she's been her nice normal self since Saturday and Sirius said it was only after you talked to her!" James said, still hugging the seventh-year girl.

"Oh! Adelaide?" She laughed. "Well I'm glad she's doing well!" James finally let go, much to Fabian's relief.

"Better than well! She hasn't been this happy since before Christmas! You have no idea!" James beamed. His face then instantly dropped as he realized Emmeline was a seventh year... "You're leaving."

"I am Potts." She said sadly.

"Do you think... Addy could, I dunno, owl you or something? You're the only one than can get through to her. Not even Sirius could get her out of that funk!"

Emmeline smiled, she had no idea that her little words of advice were so impactful, but she was glad they were. "Sure, I don't see why not. Here's where she can reach me, though I'm sure an owl would find me well enough without it." She laughed, quickly summoning a quill and parchment to write down her address.

"Perfect! Thank you Em!" James said happily, taking the parchment from her hands, then trotting back over to his friends.

"Oi! Potts! Tell Little Porskoff to try out for the team next year, yeah?" Gideon called out from behind him. James turned around with a lopsided grin and gave the older redhead a little salute, then rushed back over to his friends.

"Ads! Addy!" James exclaimed plopping himself down next to Sirius. "I got Emmeline's address... you know in case you wanted to owl her over the summer or something... if they let you send owls that is.." James ended awkwardly. Adelaide was indeed back to her normal spunky moody self, but the weeks, or really months, of unprompted outbursts still made him wary.

"Oh! That's great!" She beamed. "She's very nice. She would have been a good Hufflepuff." She nodded to herself.

" _Emmeline the Adelaide Whisperer,_ " Sirius mused, "bit of a mouthful, but I think it works." He shrugged. "Oh no, here comes the snake." He said, watching Evan Rosier doggedly make his way over to Addy to bother her... _again._

Adelaide watched him approach as well, her eyebrows furrowed, gnawing on the side of her lower lip, and nose scrunched up slightly.

"Addy, please let me explain," he requested half-heartedly, bracing himself for the silencing spell.

"Okay." She said simply.

"I know, I know you don't want me to call you Addy anymore, but please hear me out." He continued, not registering her words.

Remus looked amused.

"I said okay." She calmly stated again. Mary looked very surprised from where she sat down the table.

"W-Wait... really?! You're not going to hex me or something?" He asked suspiciously.

She laughed slightly. "No, I'm not going to hex you... unless you give me a reason to." She added, smirking.

And with that the two walked out of the great hall and into the entrance courtyard to sit upon a bench in the warm June air.

"I-I didn't really expect you to let me talk..." Evan began slowly.

"Well, I'm in a good mood, better hurry up before it changes." She joked.

Evan nodded, realizing there was some truth to her words. "Um. Well I know you think I'm a big Prejudiced Toad, I think that's what Mary called me, and well you wouldn't have been wrong earlier this year. You've got to know what it's like, hearing all this stuff about how awful mud- I mean _muggleborns_ are your whole life, just to come to school and find out they aren't magic stealing monsters. Honestly, I think Lily is probably the nicest person I've ever met. She's friends with Sev, which is nearly impossible, and I've never seen her cross with anyone besides you Marauders." He laughed. "When Mary and I were talking, I was trying to say how impressed I was with her, but it came out all wrong... and I accidentally called her a mudblood. But Ads! I didn't mean it like that! It's what everyone at home, and most of the people in Slytherin, always call muggleborns and it just slipped out..."

Adelaide understood completely. She felt a wave of shame wash over her.

"I can apologize to Evans and Mary, but I wanted to apologize to you first. You had no reason to be so nice to me and to be my friend and I just mucked it all up with my big mouth." He said miserably. "Before I really got to know you, I honestly thought were like how everyone talks about you..."

"That Pureblood Princess rubbish is still a thing?!" She asked incredulously. Evan half-smiled and nodded.

"But you're nothing like that, and it made me start to re-think some things."

"Like what?" She asked hopefully.

"Like if I really want to be like my parents... or some of my friends..." he said softly, as if he was afraid to say these words too loudly. She nodded slowly to herself in understanding.

"So, you don't hate muggleborns and muggles?" She clarified.

"No! I mean... I did, but I don't anymore..." He explained.

Adelaide was so happy she could burst and unexpectedly hugged the older boy tightly as he chuckled. "Merlin, you're pretty strong for someone so tiny."

She let go to glare at him, he merely rolled his eyes with a smile. "So Addy... May I call you Addy?"

"You may,"

Evan smiled his dazzling smile. "Addy, I am so sorry for using such an awful word against your friend. I'm also very sorry for stalking you for the past few weeks..." He said with a nervous laugh, scratching the back of his neck.

"You're forgiven Evan, but if I ever see or hear of you being a prejudicial toad again, I will not hesitate to hex you into the next century." She said sincerely.

"I have no doubt about that..." he laughed.

"Let's go back in, I need to talk to Reggie." She said standing up.

Adelaide walked back into the great hall and straight over to the Slytherin table with Evan, making her way toward the dark-haired boy eating his sandwich.

"Hey Reggie... can I talk to you?" She asked nicely. Regulus blinked. She was being nice.

"Um yeah! Sure!" He said with his mouth full. He got up, but hesitated, holding his sandwich in his hands and looking between it and the plate.

"You can bring the stupid sandwich with you Reggie." She informed him with a smirk. This seemed to bring him some relief and the two walked out to the bench she had previously occupied.

"Alright, so I want to apologize for being a total bitch." She said bluntly. Regulus nearly choked on his tuna sandwich. Adelaide patted him on the back.

"I mean... you weren't _that_ bad..."

"Reg. I put silencing charms on you five days in a row, turned your notebook into a duck, and called you a slimy toad by association." She told him sternly. "I was an awful friend, and I'm very sorry."

"I rather enjoyed the duck, I named him Libellus," Regulus laughed, "But, I forgive you Ads." He said easily. If he was being honest, he really hadn't held her meanness against her, but he knew she wouldn't accept that and forgave her anyway. "Does this mean you and Evan are friends again?" He asked.

She laughed. "Yes, I suppose. At the very least we aren't enemies."

"Oh good! I was getting so sick of having to grab some older kid to undo his silencing charms." He said relieved. Adelaide laughed her usual melodic laugh, that Regulus always thought sounded like some exotic songbird, and smiled seeing her so unburdened for a change.

The two caught up for a while, chatting about Merlin, how Regulus's classes were going, and what new books they were each reading. Adelaide was pleasantly surprised to find out that James had continued to tutor the young Slytherin in Transfiguration, leading him to feel completely confident in taking his final exam the day before. But, soon lunch would be over, and Adelaide still wanted to finish her soup, so they scuttled back into the castle with bright faces and cheery dispositions.

"You look chipper." Sirius noted

"I made up with Evan." She said quietly. She sipped her soup and casually watched as the boys flared up in a mix of confusion and anger.

"WHAT?! THAT TOAD?! WHY?!" James yelled. There was a very good chance he would never forgive the boy for calling sweet Lily Evans that horrible word.

"YOU DIDN'T! THIS IS A JOKE RIGHT?! A PRANK?" Sirius screamed, flinging some chips towards Peter that were on their way to his mouth.

"No, I am being a serious as your name Pads." She said calmly. She took another sip of her soup as they all continued to spiral.

"BUT HE'S A TOAD! YOU KNOW WHAT HE SAID ABOUT EVANS!" James bellowed, pointing at the auburn-haired girl down the table. Lily blushed.

"WHAT COULD HE POSSIBLY SAY TO MAKE YOU FORGIVE SOMETHING LIKE THAT!" Sirius screamed once again, earning more than a few looks from around the hall.

"Ugh. Calm down you dramatic poodle. I'll explain later." She said taking yet another slurp of her soup.

The two boys calmed down (marginally), but were clearly upset during their afternoon exam for Charms.

As soon as they were out of the classroom, all four boys practically pushed her to the secret room so she could explain.

"Explain. Now." James said sternly. It was a little difficult for Adelaide to take him seriously with his glasses crooked and left over flower petals (from that morning of wooing Lily) stuck in his hair.

"Stop smiling Fawley!" Sirius said unconvincingly, petals also evident in his own curly locks. Every time she smiled it made him want to smile too. He was supposed to be upset dammit!

"I'm sorry! I just can't take you two seriously with all the flower petals." She said dissolving into giggles, soon joined in by Peter and Remus.

"STOP IT! ALL OF YOU! THIS IS A VERY IMPORTANT MATTER!" James said furiously, knocking a few petals off of his head in the process. The giggles intensified.

Eventually, Adelaide composed herself to explain what Evan had told her.

"I mean, I'm glad that git finally apologized, but I still don't trust him.." Sirius said with a pout, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I know you don't." Adelaide sighed.

Later that evening Adelaide sat with the boys in their dorm, on top of Sirius's bed, gnawing on a licorice wand, deep in thought.

"Addy... you look like you have something on your mind." Remus commented, whilst flipping through his Herbology notes.

"She still hasn't made up with Mary." Sirius informed the werewolf.

"Ah. Saving her for last, huh?" Remus guessed.

She had indeed been avoiding making up with Mary. Of everyone she berated in her funk, she felt the most guilty for being cruel to her brunette best friend, who was practically a sister to her.

"I— I think I need to tell her about Evan." She told no one in particular.

"About Evan, or the hoards of boys that your parents are trying to marry you off to?" James asked.

"Um. Yes." She answered, still staring at Sirius's crimson bedspread.

"What about um... that _other thing?"_ Remus asked carefully, referring to the conversation he'd had with her in the secret room, where he unearthed her deep dark secret.

"What other thing?" Sirius asked, peeking up from where he was laying the wrong way on his bed next to her.

Adelaide flashed a glare at Remus. "Nothing Pads." She said through her teeth. James somehow understood this was about the boy she fancied.

"So the map! You know, I think we need to just stop beating around the bush, and charm the damn thing." The bespectacled boy suggested, changing the subject much to Adelaide's delight.

"Oh! I forgot to tell you all! I think I can do that complicated charm now! And I have the perfect thing for the security charm! You'll love it!" She said animatedly. She then dug through her bag next to Sirius's bed for some list she had made and a book. However, Adelaide leaned over a little too far and lost her balance. She would have fallen over headfirst onto the floor if it wasn't for Sirius quickly hoisting her back onto the bed by her waist.

"Woah! Ads! You almost went overboard there!" He chuckled, hands still at her sides. "You okay? You look kind of flushed.." he commented putting a hand to her head to check for a fever.

"Ads. I think you should talk to Mary first... about _everything_." Remus said knowingly. James raised an eyebrow. Peter snored loudly from the other side of the room.

"Yeah, maybe you're right.." she said unsteadily.

"They don't call me the voice of reason for nothing," he smirked.

"Oh stop being so smug you silly werewolf!" She teased, Remus responded by throwing a pillow at her face. Unfortunately, his aim was nowhere near as good as hers and instead of hitting her he accidentally sent the pillow flying straight at Sirius.

"Ugh! Violent much?!" The grey eyed boy complained. He shared a sinister look with Adelaide and in the next moment, the two leaped off of his bed and launched a pillow attack on poor Remus.

"Ahh! Not the face!" Sirius yelped as Remus tried to fight him off.

"James! Save me!" Remus squealed dramatically.

"No one can save you now!" Adelaide said with a mock evil cackle.

Sirius went to thwack Remus in the face, but ended up hitting Adelaide instead.

"STOP! STOP STOP!" She said, rushing off the bed, completely serious, holding her hand over her mouth.

"Addykins! Are you okay, I didn't mean to hurt you! Come on, we can take you to Poppy right now." He prattled on trying to drag her off.

"No! Leaf!" She said breaking free of his overprotective grip.

They all looked panicked, well all except for Peter, who was still somehow sleeping.

"Did it... you know...fall out?" Sirius asked, feeling almost more guilty than when he thought he hurt her.

She shook her head. "Almost, but no."

"See, this is why you shouldn't attack Moony.." Remus said smugly.

Adelaide scrunched up her nose and picked up Sirius's slipper off the ground, and threw it at his head smiling.

"I'm going to talk to Mary." She told them grabbing her bag and heading out the door, much to Sirius's displeasure.

To say Adelaide was feeling a little anxious for this conversation would be a bit of an understatement. She was a wreck. She walked into the girls dorm and put down her bag, glancing over to see Lily and Marlene studying on Marlene's bed.

"U-Um... Mar.. Can I um.. can I um talk to you..." Adelaide asked the girl painting her toenails upon her squashy bed.

Mary looked up at her with big searching brown eyes and nodded with a small smile, and gestured for her to join her on the bed.

"Um... Do you erm.. mind if I cast a muffling charm?" Adelaide whispered awkwardly. She definitely didn't want Marlene and Lily to know about all this sensitive information.

"Go ahead." Mary said with a shrug, still smiling slightly.

Adelaide flicked her wand around the fourposter bed, muffling the sound of their conversation to the rest of the room. "Um.. first I want to say I'm sorry for being so mean... and I get it if you don't want to be my friend anymore." She mumbled softly.

Mary set aside the nail polish and surprised Addy by hugging her tightly. "I'll always be your friend Addy!" She said with watery eyes. She was just so happy to have her Addy back.

"So you don't hate me?" Adelaide asked pulling away.

"NO! Merlin! I could never hate you Ads! You're like my sister! Sometimes sisters fight and don't particularly enjoy each others company, but they always love each other." She said giving her friend a watery smile.

Adelaide smiled wide. She could already feel a weight being lifted off her chest. "um, so I have some other things to tell you... you know, now that I know you don't hate my guts." she laughed nervously.

"If it's about Evan and the M-word, he already apologized to me and Lily.. rather awkwardly, but it still counts I suppose."

"Oh, well that's um part of it..." Adelaide began, making her quirky little thinking face. Mary was tempted to giggle. Adelaide was often so closed off and difficult to read, but she had that one face she made when she was trying to put things into words that was hilariously expressive.

Adelaide took a deep steadying breath. "I might marry Evan." She stated resolutely.

Mary's jaw dropped. "But I thought you fancied Sirius?!" She exclaimed.

Adelaide blushed furiously. "I do... But that's a different conversation." She told the now, even more confused brunette. "My parents are arranging my marriage." she said softly.

"WHAT!? PEOPLE STILL DO THAT?!" Mary yelped. Adelaide quickly glanced over to Lily and Marlene who seemed to have heard nothing.

"yes.."

"THAT'S BARBARIC! HOW COULD THEY-- WAIT THEY WANT YOU TO MARRY _EVAN!?"_ Mary screamed incredulously.

"Well, either him or one of these other guys..."

 _"WHO?!"_ Mary asked quickly, and loudly...

"Um... Finn Rowle, Robert Selwyn, and someone else, but I dunno who it is yet." she informed. "They wrote a letter last week saying there were four families coming to visit throughout the summer. They want to vet them and make sure their views are compatible or whatever." She shrugged.

"Wait... Your family is close with Sirius's right?!" Mary asked with a smile. Why was she smiling?

"Um.. yeah... oh no no no! It's not him. My mum already said it wasn't, besides my dad hates him! He told him to stay away from me... not that he did... stubborn poodle." She smirked at the end.

"Oh. Yeah, you're probably right then... But they like Reg right?" Mary asked.

"Well duh. Everyone likes Reggie! He's like a little snaky cinnamon bun!" Adelaide giggled.

"Yes, he is. But I mean, it could be him... the fourth boy..."

Adelaide nearly vomited at the thought. He was like a little brother. That was too weird, much too weird. "No. Can't be." Mary gave her a sad smile, knowing she was probably wrong, but not having the heart to correct her when she looked so green and nauseous.

"Alright. So let's circle back to that bit about you fancying Sirius.." Mary smirked.

Adelaide's face turned a color akin to a strawberry. "If you tease me I will hex you." She said with zero humor in her voice. "I'm only telling you because Moony said I should..."

"Bloody hell! Remus knows too!"

"Yes. And James knows I fancy someone, but I didn't tell him who. But he's been solemnly sworn to secrecy." Adelaide informed her.

"I can't believe you told a bunch of stupid boys before me.." Mary said in mock annoyance.

"Yeah yeah, well I'm telling you now. But you can't say anything or act weird about it! It's just a crush! It will probably just go away, right?"

Mary laughed loudly "Yeah right!", Adelaide made a sad face. "I mean, sure.. it could... it's um possible." she said unconvincingly.

"Doesn't matter anyway, I'll probably end up with some boy that looks like a pug." Adelaide shrugged with a giggle.

The two girls laughed and giggled late into the night (Mary even painted Adelaide's nails for her). Adelaide still had a week left of her mandrake month, and then she would be traveling back to her deplorable summer of suitors, but for now, things were good and she was happy.


	34. Chapter 34

**Chapter 34-** **Mischief Completed?**

Peter stared in awe of a large piece of parchment laid out in the middle of the boy's dorm. "Merlin's saggy left—"

"ADDYKINS THIS IS AMAZING!" Sirius barked.

"Do the thing again where it tells Snivellus he's an ugly git!" James begged.

"Good Godric! I haven't even gotten to the actual map!" Adelaide exclaimed.

"Wait, did you already do the Homonculous Charm?" Remus asked, leaning over with the other boys to get a good look at Adelaide the cartographer's work, which currently consisted of 'Miss Tufts' insulting Sirius, calling him a 'pretentious poodle' with a 'hideously misshapen face' after he said the wrong password.

"Yes! I did it after our last exam yesterday!" She said proudly. "I also doodled a bit on the front to make it pretty..." She added shyly.

"Okay! Now we have to see it!" Sirius exclaimed.

"Um... well it's just a general spell right now to unlock it or however you call it, but we can come up with a password of sorts. I thought it would be good to 'solemnly swear to blah blah blah', you know because of the whole _Marauders code_ thing. I dunno it might just be silly, we can do whatever."

"No it's not silly Ads, that's brilliant!" James beamed. "Um... _I solemnly swear that I am..."_

 _"Causing mischief?"_ Peter suggested.

"Meh, I like where you're going but it needs to be something more... edgy." James told the boy.

" _Up to trouble?_ " Remus tried. "Meh. No..."

" _Up to_..." Adelaide thought hard, scrunching up her face. " _No good_?"

" _I solemnly swear that I am up to no good_..." Sirius recited grinning. "I like it."

As did the other boys, who all squealed like girls in delight. "Okay, but the one to hide it all at the end, what are we doing there?" Remus asked the group.

"I liked what Wormy said about _'mischief'_ earlier!" James said happily, causing the smaller blonde boy to smile wide, swelling with pride.

"Me too! What if it was something like... ' _mischief finished'_ or something?" Sirius said.

"Mischief _completed_?" Adelaide tried.

" _Accomplished_?" Remus said. " _Handled_?"

" _Settled_?" Adelaide tried again. "No.. I think it needs to start with an 'M'" she said with brows furrowed, thinking hard, furiously mumbling 'M' words under her breath.

" _Managed?_ " James suggested.

" _Mischief Managed_... I LOVE IT!" Adelaide said loudly, bouncing with excitement.

"IT'S PERFECT!" Sirius said at the same time Remus shouted, "THATS IT!", with a big smile, and Peter did little claps, looking around laughing.

"Okay, give me a second and I'll set it!" Adelaide said enthusiastically. She waved around her wand gracefully, executing the spell flawlessly, and with such finesse that Sirius couldn't help but smile with pride.

"There! Done! Who wants to do the honors?" She asked the boys.

"You do it Tufts!" James said brightly, pushing his glasses up his nose.

Adelaide blushed slightly, then tapped her wand to the parchment, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good!" She said with a big smile.

The four boys were astounded as the map began to be filled with thin ink lines spreading from where Adelaide had tapped her wand, crisscrossing across the paper to form words and drawings. At the top, written in great curly letters were the words:

 ** _Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, Prongs,_** ** _Miss Tufts_**

 **

 _Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers_

** **

 _are proud to present_

** **

 _THE MARAUDER'S MAP.'_

**

"Is that Sirius's handwriting?" Remus asked, pointing to the elegant lettering.

"Yeah... since mine's so awful, I made Pads write it all out and just drew around it." Adelaide said.

"THIS IS FREAKING AMAZING! OPEN IT OPEN IT!" Sirius yelled.

Adelaide smirked, then proceeded to ever so slowly and carefully open up the map, just to get on his nerves.

"Ugh! Hurry up!" James said impatiently.

Adelaide then opened the map with a flourish, so that they could all see the intricate designs, secret passages, little notes, and most importantly, the locations of everyone at school.

The boys were rendered speechless.

After about a minute passed, Adelaide became quite self-conscious with their silence. "Um... we can still tweak some things here and ther-" she started nervously.

She was cut off by Sirius hugging her so fiercely that she nearly fell backwards.

"ADDYKINS MY BRILLIANT _BRILLIANT_ BEST FRIEND! YOU ARE THE MOST TALENTED WITCH I'VE EVER MET!" He said loudly, not letting her go, despite her struggles.

"I appreciate—the love Padfoot—but—can't—breathe—" she squeezed out. Sirius instantly let her go free, blushing a bit.

"This is amazing!" James said, eyes dreamily transfixed upon the intricately inked parchment in awe.

"What's amazing?" Asked a foreign voice.

All five Marauders instantly snapped their heads toward an Auburn haired witch with a clipboard standing in the doorway of the boys' dorm.

"Um. Adelaide drew a picture." Peter said quickly. It wasn't a total lie.

Sirius fought very hard against the urge to smack him upside the head. "It's a very good picture." He said through clenched teeth.

"Oh. Well that's... nice... can I see it?" Lily asked, more so out of politeness.

"NO!" They all answered instantly and loudly, startling her a tad.

"It's um... a secret picture." James explained.

"Of course it is." Lily said rolling her eyes. "Well I just came here to let you know that everything is set for next week. I have the dew sitting in one of my drawers along with the rest of the things." She stated. "But I had something I needed to discuss with you." She began, inviting herself to sit down on Remus's bed.

Adelaide swiftly scooted the map behind her.

"I don't particularly fancy breaking curfew for this escapade." Lily stated.

Sirius snorted. "You're willing to help us break wizarding law, but curfew is a deal breaker?"

Lily gave him a dirty look.

"It's not like we have classes anymore, we're just waiting for our marks before we leave." Adelaide added.

"Well regardless I don't want to break the rules... I'd really rather not begin the next school year immediately in detention for braking curfew."

"Oh... it's not so bad, we had detentions the beginning of this year for charming all Filch's office furniture to the ceiling the end of last year!" Peter said as if this would make her feel more at ease.

Lily gave him a horrified look.

"We can make sure you don't get caught Evans." James told her, trying to quell her disquiet.

"And _how_ exactly do you plan to manage that?" Lily asked, unconvinced.

"We have our ways..." Adelaide smirked.

"But don't you think six people traipsing through the castle in the dead of night might become an issue?" Lily retorted impatiently.

"It would only be five." Peter blurted out. Lily looked at him confused, the rest were a mix of exasperation and contempt.

" _Five_?" Lily questioned.

"I'm going to go see my um... mum. I'd be back the next day though." Remus said awkwardly. It was his usual excuse.

"But we leave to go home the next day!" Lily said, eyes wide in utter disbelief. "Why not wait until then?!"

Remus hadn't thought of that... and subsequently began to panic.

"Yes, yes, those Lupin folk are quite queer aren't they?" Adelaide said with a nervous laugh. "So you said you had everything ready to go right, and we can make sure we don't get caught... sounds like logically you should just come with us. Yeah? Yeah." She said quickly.

"But— I didn't—"

"Well would you look at the time! I think we have Saturday detention to attend to.. come on mates!" James said, trying to lead the group out the room. Adelaide quickly whispered "mischief managed", tucked the map into her pocket, and ran off behind them as James pushed Lily out of the dorm, down the stairs, and into the common room.

"Ta ta Lily Flower!" James said loudly with a dainty wave as he headed toward the portrait hole.

"POTTER DON'T CALL ME THAT!" Was the last they heard as they ran out of Gryffindor tower and toward the black lake.

The group of five lay sprawled out upon the soft grass by the bank of the black lake, soaking in the summer rays and basking in the freedom that finishing their exams brought, riding the high of finishing the map. Remus was leaned against a tree, reading a pirate book he had snagged before they left, Peter was in the beginning stages of a nap, James was marveling over the map, probably watching Lily Evans's dot pace in annoyance with him, and Adelaide and Sirius were laying next to each other, simply enjoying being in the other's presence.

Adelaide laid on her back, forest green eyes matching the color of the leaves nearby, and pointed toward the sky to watch the fluffy clouds drift languidly in the breeze. She loved being outdoors. Perhaps it was from all her time in her garden back home, but she never felt more alive then when she was in nature, breathing in the fresh air, listening to the rustling leaves, trilling of birds, and feeling the soft grass and wildflowers upon her skin.

"Ads! Look!" Whispered Sirius, nudging her ever so gently and pointing toward the dark waters.

Adelaide looked up to see the giant squid's long suckery tentacle... waving? She laughed her melodic laugh then laid her head back down upon the grass.

Adelaide wished she could just bottle up this moment: This perfect, bright summer day with no worries or anxieties to set her on edge. She wished she could keep this perfect afternoon sealed away so she could relive it when she was back home where things were dark and dreary, full of impossibly high expectations and lacking in free will.

"Ads, what're you thinkin' about?" Sirius asked softly as he laid beside her.

"I'm thinking about how perfect everything is right now, in this moment." She said eyes closed with a smile, "and how I wish it would stay this perfect forever."

"I'll try to make that happen." Sirius said sincerely, smiling up at the clouds.

* * *

The next few days mainly consisted of Adelaide trying to help Sirius, Peter, and James commit the procedure for after the full moon and before the lightning storm to memory.

"Okay, now recite the incantation... again" She told them from where she was seated upon Sirius's bed.

" _Amato Animo Animato Animagus"_ they chanted in a bored tone for the 394th time that week. There was no way they were going to forget 'those damn words', as Sirius so colorfully described them.

"And when do you say them?"

"Everyday at sunrise and sundown." they answered in unison.

"ADS WE _KNOW_! CAN'T WE TALK ABOUT SOMETHING ELSE?" James exclaimed throwing his arms in the air.

"No, now you know that the potion has to be in a still dark place, which might be difficult on the way back with the train and all, so I made you each these charmed boxes to hold the potion until you take it. It should keep out all the light, and also counteract any movement. The spell to open it is " _reseranda_ " and you have to make a little circle with your wand." she said showing them a series of small wooden boxes and wand movement.

"Um ads.. We aren't aloud to use magic outside of school... remember?"

Adelaide rolled her eyes as if this was a trivial matter. "Your parents all use magic at home, right?" she asked, though she knew the answer already.

"Well yeah..." James answered. Peter looked deep in thought, but nodded, and Sirius nodded too, impatiently.

"Well then it won't be a problem if you use magic too. You still have the trace, but they have no way of knowing where the magic came from." She explained, ready to move on and have them recite the incantation for the 395th time.

"How do you know though?" Peter asked.

"My dad's head of magical law enforcement , and I used magic all last summer and no one even noticed." She shrugged. "How do you think I charmed that tree to wiggle or put the silencing charms on the garden?" she asked Sirius.

"I thought that was just a thing..." he began, even more impressed with his 'brilliant brilliant best friend'.

"I want to see this mysterious garden," James huffed, arms folded over his chest. He had heard all school year from Sirius, Regulus, and Adelaide, about her super cool secret garden, and was quite perturbed that he couldn't see if for himself.

"Well I want to see your house, but you don't see me grumbling about it!" Adelaide retorted. James was acting like a spoiled child and she was not about to put up with it.

"Well we could always—"

"Shush." she said pointing at Sirius like one would to a naughty dog. "Now, say the incantation again."

* * *

"SHHH! Stop talking!" Adelaide whisper shouted from underneath the cloak as they passed by a window, light of the full moon filling the empty corridor.

"You're one to talk! You're literally the most un-sneaky cat I've ever—"

"Stop calling me a Cat!" She whisper shouted furiously to the curly headed boy. He smirked.

"But you are a—"

"Both of you, shut it!" James demanded. They complied instantly. Lily stared with her mouth open, but quickly returned to her state of anxious vigilance.

"Is anyone coming?" Peter asked James who was holding a large piece of parchment Lily was forbidden to look upon by punishment of pranking. Though, if she _had_ looked upon it, they wouldn't have actually pranked her. Rule VII of the Marauders Code states, 'LILY EVANS IS A PRECIOUS FLOWER AND IS TO BE GIVEN THE UTMOST POSSIBLE RESPECT AND IS HERE BY IMMUNE TO ANY PRANK WITH MALICIOUS INTENT'. Sirius was staunchly opposed to the rule, but acquiesced with the addition of Rule VIII, 'Mr Padfoot's Hair is off limits for any inter-marauder pranking, unless Mr. Prongs says it's okay.'

"I think we're in the clear," James told the shorter boy.

This was the night they had been awaiting for what felt like forever. This was also the night they would finally be rid of the, now quite slimy, mandrake leaves that had taken up residence in their mouths for the past month. This was the night they would create the potion needed to transform into their animagus at the next electrical storm, if all went well that is.

They crept out the doors and out toward the Black Lake. Their hearts instantly sank. The sky was not as clear as they had hoped. A stubborn cloud stood between them and the full moon. But, there was a breeze, they would just have to camp out and wait until the cloud had passed.

"I feel like we're forgetting something..." Adelaide whispered.

"Yeah... Me too." Sirius replied. He had an uneasy feeling at the pit of his stomach, as if there was some big factor they had somehow missed.

"No. I checked everything. We have absolutely everything we need and as far as I can tell, you all have done your parts to perfection." Lily told him. It didn't make either one feel any more at ease.

"Oh good merlin... I can't believe I didn't think of it before!" Adelaide exclaimed, eyes wide and carefully searching the grounds in a panic.

James was opening his mouth to respond when a loud, heart stopping howl rang out from behind them, followed soon after by a low growl and the thudding of paws galloping toward them.


	35. Chapter 35

**Chapter 35-Werewolf Snacks**

The heavy thud of paws slowed and the growl became louder. All five second-years jumped to their feet and turned to see the amber eyes of a sandy colored animal... no... _werewolf_ , which was stalking toward them, eying it's prey, bloodlust palpable in the unseasonably cool summer air.

Peter squeaked, James jumped in front of Lily in a heroic fashion, and Sirius instinctually moved to hide Adelaide as she searched her pockets in vain for the elm wand that was laying on the ground where she had been sitting.

Another vicious snarl from the beast stalking its prey paralyzed them in their tracks. Then suddenly, the great animal lunged toward the group. Adelaide, who still had yet to locate her wand, instantly moved in front of the group, eyes set on the werewolf, hands outstretched, palms facing the beast.

" _DEPULSO_!" She cried.

The wolf was flung backward with a loud whimper, flying through the air before landing on the ground with a thump and terrifying crack; the unmistakeable sound of breaking bones.

The beast, though wounded, was not yet ready to give up it's bloodthirsty quest. It stood, staggering a bit trying to regain it's bearings. It then ran, limping slightly, teeth bared, foaming at the mouth and running full force toward them once again.

Adelaide was ready this time.

The three boys and auburn witch watched in shock as Adelaide once again threw her hands toward the werewolf and screamed _"IMPEDIMENTA!"_ , stopping the animal in it's tracks.

The small blonde, and now heavily breathing, girl took this moment to reach out her hand muttering, _"Accio wand"_ and catching the Elm and Dragon Heartstring wand with her left hand. She then pointed it toward the wolf and instantly shouted _"STUPIFY!"_ , knocking the wolf out cold with a bright red stream of light, then yelled, " _Incarcerous!"_ binding it's limbs in thick ropes in case it awoke.

She stood shaking violently, breathing heavily, and staring at the werewolf. Staring at her best friend.

After a moment, Adelaide's knees gave out and she collapsed onto the ground. Sirius was yanked out of his paralyzed state and rushed to her side. "Addykins!" he yelped.

The others were still rooted in place, in shock from what they had just witnessed. Not only had they been nearly attacked by a now unconscious werewolf, but their friend had saved them. Saved them using wandless magic, and powerful wandless magic at that.

"Addykins, are you okay?" Sirius asked, face still paled from fear, and grey eyes full of concern and scanning her for any sign of injury, brushing the hair away from his best friend's face.

"I-I'm okay." She mumbled, still looking at the werewolf.

"You did wandless magic Adelaide." Lily said in a shaky voice, still standing close to James.

"I've never heard of someone that young doing wandless magic Ads." James added in a distracted voice, looking completely bemused at the unconscious werewolf behind her.

"Y-You knocked out M-Moony." Peter said in a nervous voice. Lily's head snapped toward the boy, then toward the wolf, realization flashing in her bright green eyes.

"I-I had to. I had to protect you. I couldn't let him hurt you." she said in an almost apologetic voice turning toward the others. "I-I didn't mean to hurt him..." she said, voice drenched in regret, breath quickening, eyebrows furrowed, hands fiddling with her wand and the hem of her sleeve, and eyes beginning to pool with tears.

Sirius put his hands on either side of her arms, looking her dead in the eyes. "Addy, you were brilliant. You were absolutely brilliant. You saved us Ads. You saved our lives." he told her with a small reassuring smile, lifting her spirits.

The group eventually moved to sit upon the grass as they were before the bloodthirsty beast came to visit, all staring blankly out across the moonlit lake, trying to process what the hell had just happened.

Adelaide and the boys were all wondering the same thing. Why was Remus out on the grounds when he was supposed to be safely barricaded in the Shrieking Shack? And what would he do when he found out he tried to kill his best friends?

After what felt like ages, Adelaide was the first to break the heavy silence that fell over the five.

"The cloud moved." she commented softly, looking up at the now clearly visible full moon above.

"I suppose we can um, get started." Lily said, voice still unsteady, glancing toward the beast behind them, praying it would not awake.

One by one they spit each of their slimy leaves into a phial within range of the moon's pure rays, then added their hairs, the silver teaspoon of dew, and the stolen chrysalises. Then, just as they had practiced, they each corked the potion phial and placed it in the charmed wooden box as Adelaide sealed them shut.

"I-I suppose we um... can um head back now." Lily said as the others nodded in agreement.

Adelaide unbound the beast and the group scurried back to the castle, following the map to Gryffindor tower, still noticeably shaken by the events of the night. The high from completing the potion and moving one step closer to becoming Animagi over shadowed by their dance with death.

Once in the common room, the boys and Adelaide instantly headed to bed, but Lily stopped her blonde friend on her way to the stairs, pulling her aside to the window seat in the corner of the dark abandoned common room.

Adelaide had a feeling she knew _exactly_ what Lily wanted to talk about.

"Adelaide. Remus isn't visiting his mum tonight is he?" she stated more than asked.

Adelaide bit her lip. She couldn't betray Remus, but she also couldn't control the fact that Lily Evans was most definitely unravelling his secret.

"He- he's a werewolf isn't he? _The_ werewolf. " she said in a low voice.

"I-I can't..." Adelaide muttered, turning away from the intense green eyes in front of her.

"That's the reason you need to become animagi." Lily said, more to herself this time.

"Lily, I can't have this conversation. Please." Adelaide told her friend with pleading eyes. "You'll have to talk to Remus."

Lily nodded, but neither one moved from the window seat. "Thank you." Lily said softly, placing her hand on Adelaide's. "Thank you for saving me, for saving all of us."

"I didn't have much of a choice." Adelaide said with a soft breathy hint of a laugh and a small smile which Lily returned. "I didn't really fancy seeing a majority of my friends turned into werewolf snacks.." she joked. Adelaide inwardly marveled at her own ability to make light of this difficult situation. It seemed some of Sirius's more redeemable qualities were rubbing off on her.

"Addy. I don't know if you realize how incredible you were back there." Lily said in a serious voice. Adelaide opened her mouth to refute this just as Lily expected. "No, I'm being completely honest Adelaide. There aren't many who can do what you did back there... using wandless magic like that..."

"It wasn't the first time." Adelaide shrugged, feeling uncomfortable.

Lily gave her friend a bewildered smile. "You fight off werewolves often?" she asked in an amused voice.

Adelaide smiled slightly. "I meant the wandless magic." she said, fiddling with her sleeve. "Only once though."

"You're just full of surprises Adelaide Fawley." Lily said with a smile and an analytical look as Adelaide shrugged. "You know, I don't think I've ever seen Sirius so scared for you or so proud." She said with a smirk.

"You and James seemed quite cozy.." Adelaide retorted back instantly. Lily's face flushed ever so slightly.

"I think we deserve some rest, yeah?" Lily said, standing up.

"Agreed future Mrs. Potter." Adelaide said cheekily, laughing and sprinting up the stairs before Lily could hit her.


	36. Chapter 36

**Chapter 36-** **That's Quite Heroic of You**

The morning after they finished the potion, just before sunrise, Adelaide bolted out of bed and straight toward the boys dorm, still wearing her Slytherin Emerald nightgown (she despised the nightgown given to her for Christmas because of the color, but wore it often because it was actually very soft). She flew up the stairs and into the boys dorm without knocking.

"UP UP UP! WE HAVE TO SAY THE INCANTATION! YOU HAVE 2 MINUTES UNTIL SUN UP!" She bellowed, shooting water at them all with her wand...

"ADDY! JUST BECAUSE YOU SAVED OUR LIVES DOES NOT GIVE YOU THE RIGHT TO BE A DICK!" James screamed grumpily, sputtering out the water that was flung into his face.

"GET UP!" She yelled in his ear, smacking him with a pillow.

The other two dripping Marauders were up, but with eyes drooping closed, James grouchily wrenched himself out of bed, glaring at the little savior. Remus, was in the hospital wing... hopefully. Visiting their furry friend was next on the agenda for the day.

" _Amato Animo Animato Animagus"_ The four said with the tips of their wands placed over their hearts.

"Can we go back to sleep now?" Peter whined.

"No, we have to go check on Moony." Adelaide said gravely. They were all tired, but they knew she was right. "So you all get dressed and I'll meet you downstairs... and bring the map."

A few minutes later, Adelaide walked into the cozy common room, holding a pirate book Lily gave her and dressed in her green jumper and jean skirt. She made herself at home beside the fire, idly flipping through the book as she awaited the arrival of the others.

"What's with the snake colors today?" Sirius asked gesturing to her emerald jumper as he made his way down the stairs.

"I have to go home today... figured they might be a little less furious about my 'Acceptable' History of Magic marks if they see me embracing the green." she shrugged standing to meet him.

Sirius made a disgusted face. "Still not a good enough reason to wear that color..." he muttered.

Adelaide gave him a side eyed glance, but ignored the comment.

As the group made their way toward the hospital wing, Adelaide suddenly remembered her conversation with Lily the night before.

"Oh!" She exclaimed. The others looked at her, confusion clouding their sleepy faces. "Um... So... erm... Lily knows."

"Lily knows lots of things, she got all 'outstandings' on her exams Tufts, you will need to be a tad more specific." James grumbled, still in a terrible mood from being awoken from his beauty sleep.

"Stop being such an arse, Potter." she snipped. "Lily knows about Moony." she said softly addressing the rest of the group.

Sirius ran a hand through his hair in exasperation, muttering curses under his breath. "He's going to be so upset."

The group finally made it to the hospital wing and Sirius knocked on the door, since Madam Pomfrey considered him her little protégé and was least likely to deny him entrance.

The perpetually flustered woman opened the door with an almost expectant look.

"Poppy, can we see Remmy?" Sirius asked, throwing in some puppy dog eyes for good measure.

She pursed her lips, looking them over, then finally agreed to let them in.

They made their way toward the lanky boy with sandy hair and amber eyes who gave them a little smile. Adelaide felt guilt grip her stomach as she saw the bruises on his cheek and his arm in a sling. She knew Poppy would have his arm healed up in time for the train ride late that morning, but she still felt awful for being the one responsible for her friend's pain.

"Remmy... Your arm..." Adelaide said, moving to sit in the seat beside him, eyes up to the brim with concern. "I'm so sorry..."

"It's not your fault." Remus told his compassionate friend. "Some kids broke into the shack over the weekend and left a door open... I um.. I got loose..." he explained.

"No, Remmy it _is_ my fault. It's all my fault." she said with tears filling her eyes. Remus was confused.

"Ads, what are you talking about?"

Sirius was the one to answer. "I'll explain, but you have to promise not to moan about being a monster, okay?"

Remus paled.

Sirius took the seat beside Adelaide as the other two boys sat on Remus's bed. He calmly recounted the events of the night before, as well as the fact that Lily Evans most likely knew his secret.

"I-I can't believe I almost killed you..." He whispered, furiously wiping away tears in his eyes. It was like his worst nightmare had come true. He never felt more like a monster in all his life. He had never felt such intense shame.

"You!? Are you kidding me?! I was terrified that I killed you Remmy!" Adelaide exclaimed, a little teary eyed herself. "I didn't know if you'd ever wake up!"

Remus laughed and everyone let out a breath they didn't know they had been holding. "Addy. Please stop trying to crash my self-pity party." He said, wiping away another tear whist he chuckled.

"Oh! Speaking of parties! I got you a present... consider it a 'sorry I broke your arm' gift." She said with a watery smile handing the boy a pirate book he had never read before.

His eyes lit up and a wide smile graced his lips. "This is great Ads! Thank you!" he said with a chuckle. Sirius eyed the encounter carefully, feeling a little on edge for some reason.

After a few more minutes, the group of able bodied second years went down to grab their plates of breakfast and brought them up to the hospital wing, keeping Remus company until it was time for them to head back and grab their things to leave.

Later that afternoon, after about an hour aboard the train, the boys all glanced at each other nervously. Adelaide eyed the strangely quiet and trepidatious group with narrowed eyes.

"What is with you all?" she asked suspiciously.

They shared another look. Adelaide rolled her eyes, they were up to something.

Truth was, they had been planning this conversation for days and were all nervous about broaching the sensitive subject.

"Um... well you know how erm... Dorris went missing earlier this week?" Sirius began.

"yes..."

Sirius gulped, looking for someone else to continue. No one else seemed brave enough to talk, so he continued. "Well... She didn't actually go missing." He said tentatively as Adelaide gave him a perturbed look. "She um... Well we were..." Remus cleared his throat loudly. "Okay James and I were messing about, throwing a couple of silly jinxes at each other and well I guess she got caught in the cross fire..." he trailed off.

"WHAT THE BLOODY HELL DID YOU DO TO HER?!" Adelaide bellowed. James and Sirius winced then pulled out something from James's rucksack and handed it over to the angry girl.

Adelaide looked on in horror as she saw that her sweet fluffy Dorris had sprouted antlers and was covered in gum. She was one-hundred percent positive she could fix her, but she thought it would be more beneficial for the boys to understand the error of their ways if she kept this fact to herself.

"Y-you can fix it right?" James asked guiltily as Adelaide just stared at the defiled stuffed animal.

"Can you fix a broken heart?" She snapped fiercely.

"I bet poppy could come up with something..." Sirius said under his breath.

Adelaide let them go on being guilt-ridden the whole rest of the train ride, getting more and more melodramatic as time passed. Towards the end they began to suspect that she was just messing with them...

Once they reached their destination, Adelaide gave her last goodbyes to Lily and Mary, well out of sight of her parents, and then to her boys, hugging each one tightly, as if she would never see them again.

James conspicuously slipped something into the bag she had on the train with her, smirking. "Just a little something for your Slytherin suitors." he said with a wink. Adelaide peaked inside to see 4 dung bombs and smirked back at her messy haired best friend.

"ADELAIDE!" called the harsh cold voice of Cathryn Fawley. Adelaide glanced around to see her parents standing beside Sirius's, of course.

"Love ya Prongsy... Even if you are an arse..." she said with one last hug.

"Love you too Tufts." he smiled back.

"SIRIUS!" Screeched Walburga Black.

"Come on Ads. Time to face the music." He said dragging her away, waving goodbye to James.

As the two made their way toward their parents, Sirius was acutely aware of the cold look Filip Fawley was giving him. Filip, grabbed Sirius by the shoulder, pulling him a out of earshot of the others. Sirius looked back at Adelaide, who was trying to hide her panic, and gave her a smile.

"Sirius, I trust that you have thought over what we discussed..." Filip began in his unnaturally calm and quiet voice. Sirius thought back to his discussion with the cruel man in the hallway of Saint Mungo's, where Filip had tried to convince him to change his views, to conform to the disgusting and insane ideologies of his family and hers, all in the name of protecting Adelaide.

"Yes." Sirius said, jaw set, looking up at the man. "I do not plan to change my views anytime soon, sir." he began. Filip Fawley looked angry, but let the boy continue. "But I also refuse to keep my distance from her. She is my best friend and a better person than you could _ever_ hope to be. I swear to you, that I will fight to keep her away from you monsters until my last breath."

Filip Fawley's blue eyes narrowed ever so slightly. He looked so stern and terrifying, but his deep set eyes also looked so familiar for some reason. Sirius realized that they looked just like Adelaide's when she was afraid.

"That's quite heroic of you." Filip began quietly, "But, have you ever thought that perhaps _we_ aren't the monsters you should be worrying about?"


	37. Chapter 37

**Chapter 37- The Gala**

Adelaide swung back and forth, light blonde hair floating in the wind, as she glided upon the old tree swing in her garden hideaway. She had been spending a lot of time there recently, finding the isolation much preferable to being around her cold and cruel mother. It had only been two weeks, but it felt like ages since she had seen her friends. She glanced up at the dying sun, and pulled out her wand to recite the incantation as it began to set, just like every day for the past two weeks.

A moment after saying the incantation, movement caught her eye. The tree wiggled. Someone was coming. She stuffed the wand into her pocket and pulled out the book she had been reading over fifth year charms.

"Adelaide. Come inside, we have to get you dressed for the Gala tonight." Her mother called. _The Gala..._ how could she forget!

She arose quickly, running with the large book gripped in her arms toward her mother with a small smile. Now usually, Galas were probably her _least_ favorite thing in the world. Oodles of pretentious and prejudiced purebloods gathered together to mingle and pat each other on the back, gushing about how lovely they were. But, this gala was going to be better than all of the others. Sirius and Regulus would be there. She could just steal them away and have an actual conversation with someone she didn't despise!

She hastily followed her mother to her Slytherin green and silver bedroom where, Mimsy, their sweet house elf, was waiting for them.

"I bought you this to wear, though I doubt you can fill it out just yet," Cathryn said eyeing Adelaide's slim figure, "but I am sure Mimsy can take it in if needed." she said, moving over to the vanity where there were a variety of make up products that Adelaide had never seen before. "Once you are clean and dressed I will be doing your make up. We need to have you looking your best. It's disappointment enough that we have to introduce you as a _Gryffindor_ , we can't give the others any other reason to look down upon you and our family." she said with contempt.

Adelaide bathed and then dressed in the long emerald gown, patterned with lace and silver ivy embellishments. She longed for it to be purple.

As it turned out, Mimsy didn't need to take in the dress as much as Cathryn had expected, this seemed to please her slightly. "Sit." She demanded to the girl, pulling out the make up.

"You have your father's silly eyelashes." Cathryn scoffed. "Practically invisible! But, easily fixed."

Cathryn went on, subtly insulting Adelaide's face as she continued to mask her delicate features with pounds and pounds of make-up.

"Mum..." Adelaide began. Catching the older woman off guard as she usually referred to Cathryn as 'Mother'.

"Yes?"

"Mum... could we change the dress to lavender?" She asked timidly, avoiding making eye contact with the woman who's gaze was like a bird of prey.

"Why on earth would you want it to be lavender?" She asked intensely.

"It's um... my favorite color." Adelaide answered meekly, looking up to Cathryn Fawley with a look of such pleading desperation, you would think she had asked her to save her life.

Cathryn looked hard back at her daughter, mind flashing to when she saw her writhing in her hospital bed, shrieking, eyes full of tears... eyes full of the same pleading desperation. Mrs. Fawley did not answer, but instead pulled out her chestnut wand and wordlessly pointed it toward the dress.

Adelaide smiled widely, wider than Cathryn had seen since she was a small child, looking in delight at the now lavender dress. She looked up to the woman, still grinning, and said, "Thank you."

Once Cathryn was satisfied with Adelaide's appearance, the small girl sneakily tucked her elm wand into the left pocket of the now lavender gown, and followed the older woman down the marble stairs to the bright entry hall to greet their guests.

Filip immediately eyed the girl's new color, flashing a curious expression to his wife as she made her way to stand beside him. "You changed the dress..." He whispered.

"I'm not as heartless as you think I am Filip." she told him sternly.

Meanwhile, Adelaide stood by the front doors, able to greet their guests with a genuine smile for the first time. Between the dress and getting to see Sirius, she couldn't think of a single way that this night could go wrong.

After a while of welcoming in their guests and directing them to the ballroom, Adelaide's chipper mood was beginning to decline. Sirius wasn't there. None of his family were there. They _always_ came to these gala's. Soon, it was time for her to join the rest of her family in the ballroom and stand beside her mother as a little purple prop whilst she chatted mindlessly with their stupid guests. Adelaide was only half-listening as her mother praised her for having the highest marks of her year in charms to a handsome man with dark hair, mind too preoccupied with her disappointment. She completely missed the greedy look the man gave her.

'Where is Sirius? He was supposed to be here... ' She thought miserably, masking her feelings outwardly with a look of contentedness. 'Now he'll never get to see the purple dress or the fairy lights I charmed in the garden...' she thought. It was at this moment that she noticed something odd. It was the unmistakeable feeling of someone listening in on her thoughts. She glanced around, making eye contact with the handsome man her mother was speaking to, and instantly shut him out of her mind.

She expected the man to be a little put out about her discovering his intrusion, and subsequently kicking him out of her mind, but instead his face twisted into a smile.

"Yes, I see what you mean. She really is remarkable, isn't she Cathryn?" The man said in a somewhat high voice. He turned toward the small girl and reached out to shake her hand. "It is a pleasure to meet you Miss Adelaide, my name is Mr. Riddle."

Adelaide stifled a gasp. He was the man who gave Sirius the creeps, and now she could see why. She willed herself to shake his cold hand and forced out a polite smile.

The man smiled back with a rapacious look in his red eyes.

"Cathryn, may I ask where the Black family is?" He drawled.

Cathryn seemed to be expecting this question. "Oh, they are off having dinner with the Lestrange's, an engagement party for young Bellatrix." She replied with a smile.

"Ah! Bella! Yes, yes I remember her mentioning something about that now." He said, flashing a look to Adelaide. She had a feeling he only asked the question for her sake.

"ADDY!" bellowed a familiar voice. "ADS!" it screamed again, gaining more than a few disdainful looks from the surrounding party guests.

"James! Stop running!" an older woman scolded.

Adelaide almost cried with happiness as she saw her messy haired friend with his crooked glasses, running toward her full speed in black dress robes. He nearly toppled her over as he embraced her tightly. "Addy! I missed you so much!" he said, still tightly holding on to the girl he thought of as his little sister.

"I missed you too Prongsy." She laughed.

He let her go, grinning, and quickly moved to introduce her to his parents. Adelaide looked up to the hazel eyed older woman. She had lots of little wrinkles around her eyes, deep laugh lines around her mouth, and little streaks of grey in her reddish-brown hair that was pulled up into an elegant French twist. "Euphemia!" exclaimed Cathryn Fawley. "I wasn't aware that you were still coming." she said with a forced smile.

"Yes, well James convinced us that this was the place to be tonight." Euphemia Potter laughed congenially, looking over to her husband. The older man was tall and thin with James's same messy black hair and glasses. The resemblance was truly striking. Adelaide thought it was like looking at a middle-aged version of James with brown eyes.

"Ah and Fleamont! You look well!" Cathryn said to the man with yet another tight smile.

"I am, we just got back from a quick visit to France to celebrate James's good marks this year." He said with a warm smile, looking down proudly at his son.

Everyone had seemed to miss the greedy look and small smile Mr. Riddle gave the boy, all except Adelaide that is. She didn't trust him, and she refused to let him stand anywhere near her best friend. "Come on James! I can show you the garden!" She said happily, grabbing the boy's arm and pulling him through the crowd to the French doors on the back side of the house.

"MERLIN'S PANTS!" he exclaimed, looking around in awe of the garden he had heard about so often. The hype didn't do it justice. It was like nothing he had ever seen before. Adelaide gave him a quick tour then led him to sit beside her in the stone gazebo.

"James, how are you here?!" She asked finally.

"I'm a pureblood remember?" he said cheekily. "We get invited to these stuffy things all the time, but mum and dad never actually go. But when I heard it was at your house I begged them until they said yes." he said proudly. Adelaide smiled at the silly spoiled boy and listened as he told her all the lovely things he saw and did in France the weeks before.

"What about you Ads, what have you been up to? Have any of those tossers been over yet?" he asked

"Well honestly, I've really just been here... in the garden. Evan is the first I think, I heard my parents talking about it the other day, but he won't be over for another couple of weeks."

"Hmm well at least we know he won't be a total creep..." James muttered.

"OH! Speaking of creeps... did you see that man? The one standing by my mother when you came in?"

"The one with those weird eyes?"

"Yep that one. Did he seem a bit... odd to you?" she asked in a softer voice.

"Yeah... kinda gave me the creeps, what is he a cousin or something?"

"No, well not that I know of... He's that Mr. Riddle guy Sirius said his mother fancied..."

"Woah! That guy?! Walburga really has terrible taste in men..." James trailed off.

"He tried to read my thoughts James." Adelaide said seriously. "I pushed him out. But I have no idea how much he heard or what he may know now. He probably tried to read your mind too."

"THAT BASTARD!" James exclaimed, completely outraged. "How did you 'push him out' of your head?!"

"Occlumency." She said simply. "It's something a tutor of mine taught me when I was growing up, Sirius and Regulus can do it too, though Reggie is way better at it than Sirius. Padfoot's a little too hot headed to get it to work." She laughed, then sighed sadly, looking down at her lavender gown. "He was supposed to be here tonight. They both were." she said sadly.

"Sorry you got ol' Prongsy instead." James joked, bumping shoulders with the girl and giving her a wink.

Adelaide smirked up at him. "It's actually better that you're here instead, in a way... You can help me with my plan..." she said, peaking his interest. "I'm going to prank those Slytherin suitors." She said with a diabolical grin that James returned. He was definitely the best person to help with this plan.

Meanwhile, in the ballroom, Mr. Riddle pulled Filip Fawley aside. "I want her too." he said calmly. "I want your daughter in addition to the two Black boys."

Filip's breath hitched. "May I ask why you have changed your mind?"

Mr. Riddle's lips curled into a terrifying smile. "Are you aware that your daughter can do wandless magic?"


	38. Chapter 38

**Chapter 38- Mind Games**

After the Gala was over, and James and the guests left out the front door, disapperating with loud cracks, Adelaide went up to her room to scrub off all the make-up, and slipped out of the lavender dress. She put on a soft blue nightgown and some cat slippers Sirius got her for Christmas (long before he actually knew her patronus form) and padded down the dark hallways of the manor to grab a cup of tea from the kitchen before bed.

She held her cup of camomile tea carefully as she made her way back up to her room. As she walked passed the drawing room, she was startled to see her father looking more distraught than she had ever seen him in her life.

Usually, he showed no emotion whatsoever, but tonight, he looked tired and broken. He was sitting beside the fire in a comfortable armchair, puffing on his wooden pipe, deep in thought while Mimsy cleaned the ballroom.

He looked up to see Adelaide watching him curiously, sweet little cat faces on her pink slippers and large cup of steaming tea in her hands: she looked so innocent. He softly called her to sit in the chair beside him. He looked over her sweet delicate face in the warm glow of the fire as she carefully sipped her tea.

How had he created something so pure? How was it possible that he, a broken and flawed man, could have any part in her perfection?

"Did you have a pleasant time tonight?" He asked letting out a puff of smoke.

Adelaide studied him closer. He seemed almost genuinely interested in her. "I did." She said with a hint of a smile. "James Potter came with his family."

"Are you friends with James?" He asked.

Adelaide wasn't sure what he wanted her answer to be. Was James off limits too? His family could probably be considered blood traitors, but did her father know this? Would she be punished for being his friend? Her mind raced, but then something inside her said to tell the truth, regardless of the consequences. After all, she was much stronger than before, and if worse came to worse, she was confident that if she could protect her and her friends from Loony Moony the werewolf, she could probably fight off her parents long enough to get away.

"Yes, he's like a big brother." She said softly.

Something strange flashed in Filip's eyes, as if he was recalling a painful memory. He nodded in acknowledgment, but was silent for a few long minutes. They sat in the quiet, dimly lit room, filled only by the sound of the fire, Adelaide's soft slurps of her tea, and Filip's light puffs from his pipe.

"Is it true that you can do wandless magic?" Her father asked, breaking the silence. Adelaide's head snapped toward him in alarm. Only the Marauders, Lily, and Mary knew about this.

"What?" She asked in forced calmness.

"Is it true you can perform spells without using a wand." He asked looking towards her guilt ridden face. "It's a rare talent for someone your age, but not unheard of in our family." He commented casually. It wasn't a total lie, he had a great-great-great aunt that was rumored to possess the talent, though the stories always alluded to her mastering the skill later in life.

Adelaide's face instantly peaked with interest. "Really?!" she asked brightly.

So it was true.

"Yes." He said sadly. "It's late, you should head up to bed."

And with that, Adelaide padded her way up the marble stairs to her bedroom, mind buzzing with events of the night.

The next morning, as the sun arose, Adelaide pointed her wand to her heart and recited the incantation," _Amato Animo Animato Animagus,"_ then tried as she had the past two weeks to call Sirius over the mirror. Once again she was unsuccessful. She glanced at Dorris, still a little splattered with ink, but otherwise back to normal and laying upon her bed, and sighed.

She dressed in the outfit laid out for her by Mimsy, and went downstairs for breakfast holding a rather large book on healing charms. She sat at the polished dark wood table and silently ate her oatmeal while her father sipped on his pumpkin juice reading the paper, and her mother ate some toast with tea.

"Adelaide. We will be having a dinner guest tonight." her mother said absently after a while.

"Who?" Adelaide inquired, hoping it would be Sirius's family.

"Mr. Riddle. I believe you met last night," Cathryn Fawley said with a slight frown, looking over at her emotionless husband. Adelaide's eyes widened. "It seems he has taken quite and interest in you."

"Why?" Adelaide said in disgust.

"He believes you have... _potential_." Filip commented, jaw set tightly.

Cathryn Fawley, looked just as on edge. "He's a tutor of sorts for some of the other pureblood children. You know some of them." she said swiftly reaching for a magazine with slightly shaking hands. "Thorfinn Rowle, Bellatrix Black, and little Regulus to name a few."

Adelaide had the strong desire to punch something at the thought of that mind reading creep going anywhere near her sweet innocent Regulus.

Suddenly, the empty glass of pumpkin juice her father had been sipping on shattered, and Adelaide ran out of the kitchen and into her garden, leaving the book on the table in her haste.

She paced her garden furiously, scaring a squirrel she had named Bellus. If she was going to get through this night, she would have to get a grip on her emotions. Adelaide moved to the tree swing and began to move back and forth, clearing her mind, compartmentalizing her emotions just as Miss Prince taught her all those years ago. She closed her mind and listened to the sound of the birds, smelled the sent of lavender floating from the flowerbed nearby, felt the strong rugged ropes holding the swing in her delicate hands. Then, she opened her eyes and calmly went to the gazebo to continue perfecting her plans to prank her future suitors.

As night approached, Adelaide was in a tricky situation. The dinner would coincide with the sunset. She resolved to get up and go to the ladies room early on; she didn't need much time, but she did need privacy.

Adelaide sat in the dark sitting room, wearing a lavender dress her mother had picked out for her, with her wand in her left pocket, and eying the clock closely.

The chiming doorbell rang and her Father rushed to answer. She could hear the formal greetings and watched as the man with red eyes came into view.

"Hello again Miss Adelaide! You look lovely!" He said congenially. He was charming, she would give him that, but she still did not trust him one bit.

She slowed her breath and cleared her mind of emotions. "Nice to see you again Mr. Riddle." She said kindly.

Cathryn seemed impressed by Adelaide's good manners, and let the group to the dining room. After only a few minutes into the first course, Adelaide asked to be excused to go to the ladies room. She caught a glimpse of the setting sun, pulled out her wand and quickly muttered the words in the privacy of the downstairs restroom.

As she walked back to rejoin the party, she could hear the adults having a rather odd conversation. "My Lord, I understand her giftedness as well as any, but she is still a child..." Her father said, trailing off as she came into view. She wasn't aware that Mr. Riddle was of nobility.

"Are you a 'Lord', Mr. Riddle?" Adelaide asked inquisitively as she sat down in the high-backed chair.

Mr. Riddle's lips twisted up into a smile. "In some circles, yes." He answered cryptically. "Now, Miss Fawley, I hear you are quite talented in your spell-work."

Adelaide nodded, taking a sip from her water goblet.

"Would you care to tell us what your favorite charm might be?" he asked, blood red eyes boring into her. She was quite certain he was trying to fish around in her mind, and rather than block him out completely, she decided to play along with his little mind games and let him in on something she didn't particularly mind letting him see. There was no need for him to understand just how good at occlumency she really was... not yet at least.

Adelaide felt as the man pried his way through the memory of her receiving her wand at Ollivanders just before she started school her first year. Elm, dragon heartstring, 9 1/2 inches, fairly flexible. But then, he tried to move on to a memory she did not want him to see. He pushed toward the memory from her first year as she and Sirius chatted about Christmas break, charming the ink-pot and quill to dance with each other. Adelaide took a deep steadying breath and pushed him from her mind before the conversation drifted toward her writing to Regulus.

"The Patronus Charm." She answered steadily, unintimidated by the man in-front of her.

Mr. Riddle looked mildly impressed and asked, "And are you able to cast such an advanced charm?"

Mr and Mrs. Fawley eyed the girl curiously.

"That _is_ a rather advanced charm for someone my age Mr. Riddle." Adelaide said with a fake giggle. Mr. Riddle somehow sensed that she was hiding something and she felt him try to break into her mind once again. She blocked him from seeing anything of importance, but had to let him find something or else he would only keep searching. She settled on the memory of Evan complementing her drawing in the library.

"It is indeed... But not too advanced for you, am I correct?" he asked, catching her off guard as the vision of her first wispy Patronus flashed in her mind. At least he didn't know what it looked like... yet.

Adelaide took a deep breath and yet another sip of her water, calming and clearing her head. He was getting cocky. She would have to keep him out completely now.

He already knew she could cast the spell, there was no need to lie. "You are correct." She said smoothly, emotionlessly, voice droning on in boredom.

Mr. Fawley looked sharply between the two. Adelaide stared back impassively at the man called Mr. Riddle and watched as he tried again and again to gain access to her mind. He was getting frustrated.

When he didn't respond, Adelaide decided to ask a question of her own. "Do you enjoy watching Quidditch Mr. Riddle?" She asked calmly, nibbling on a bit of her salad.

He eyed her curiously, but didn't miss a beat in answering. "I played a bit in school, but find it a waste of time to follow the teams these days. Do you?"

"Oh not as much as some of my friends, but I do like the Hollyhead Harpies." She said with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.

The conversation moved on to the adults speaking of ministry matters that Adelaide found quite boring, so instead she focused her attention on keeping Riddle out of her head.

As Mimsy brought out the desert, Adelaide heard her mother tell a story about a muggle she saw falling in a mud puddle earlier that week. Her head jerked up as she heard the cold laugh of her mother, and the high, cold laugh of Mr. Riddle ring in the stale air of the dining room. Adelaide felt certain she had heard that laugh before, and as Mr. Riddle fought to break into her head once more, she pushed back hard... perhaps a bit too hard. Suddenly the vision of an old diary flashed through her mind, then a ring, then a necklace, then a goblet, and then a very pretty tiara amongst a large cluttered room.

If Mr. Riddle knew she saw these things, he certainly didn't show it.

Once everyone had finished their pudding, the adults moved to the drawing room, while Adelaide headed up to bed.

"It was lovely to get to know you Miss. Adelaide." Mr. Riddle said with his signature terrifying smile. "I suspect I shall see you again before summer ends."

And with that last prediction, Adelaide hurried up the marble steps and into her room, far away from the creepy man downstairs.


	39. Chapter 39

**Chapter 39- Frenemies**

"Miss Adelaide! Mimsy is here to wakes you up!" Squeaked the sweet house elf wearing a pretty white lace smock. Adelaide pried her eyes open in the dark room to see the gigantic electric blue eyes of her oldest friend. The elf tugged on her arm nervously, looking over at the window.

"Oh no!" Adelaide cried fumbling to grab her wand and put it over her heart. " _Amato Animo Animato Animagus,"_ She said once again.

"Mimsy heards Master Fawley say it might rain today Miss Adelaide!" she said cheerfully.

"Really?!" Adelaide exclaimed. The happy house elf nodded so fiercely that it made her big bat like ears flop around wildly. "Mimsy, please let me know if it turns into an electrical storm, alright?"

"Mimsy will lets you know right away and will not tells anyone about Miss Adelaide tryings to be a cat." She said with a big smile.

"You're the best Mimsy!" Adelaide said, hugging the sweet elf. "Mimsy, when is your birthday?" She asked curiously.

The house elf's electric blue eyes pooled with tears, a bewildered smile stretched across her face. "August 4th." she squeaked.

"That's the same month as mine!" she cheered. "Do you have a favorite color?" she asked.

"Oh Mimsy's masters love green!"

"No, no, no... What is _your_ favorite color? Mine is lavender." She smiled.

Mimsy had always loved little Miss Adelaide. The little girl had always been very kind to her, and was always sure to thank her, but she was taken aback by the genuine interest she had in her life. Her, just Mimsy. As if she was an equal.

"Blue. Mimsy loves Blue." She said with a watery smile.

"Good to know..." Adelaide said with a half-smile as the planning wheels in her head began turning. "Well I suppose I might as well get up now..." She sighed.

Adelaide pulled out the ornate compact mirror and softly spoke Sirius's name. She waited, holding on to Dorris, while Mimsy made the bed. "Come on padfoot... answer... please answer..." she murmured to herself. Mimsy gave the girl a sad look. Miss Adelaide had been trying to talk to her friend all summer, but her friend would never answer.

Adelaide closed the mirror and got ready for the day, then put the mirror in her pocket along with her wand.

It had been three weeks since the dinner with 'Creepy Mr. Riddle', and Adelaide was rejoicing in the fact that she hadn't seen him since. Her days were long and boring, and spent either reading up on her future lessons the next year, or planning her pranks for the future suitors to perfection. However, today she would find out just how effective her little pranks would be.

Evan Rosier and his family arrived late that afternoon. Evan's Father, Allen Rosier, was a dragonologist and the author of many books on the subject. He had brown eyes and dirty blonde hair, and Evan's same sun-tanned skin and tall build. Evan's mother, Aquila (Black) Rosier, was a tall angular woman with Evan's same brown hair and blue-green eyes, who wrote an advice column for the daily prophet.

"Addy!" Evan greeted as he walked in the door. Adelaide gave him a warning look that he didn't understand.

"Oh! Lovely! I didn't realize you two were already acquainted!" Allen said happily in his booming low voice.

Adelaide faked a smile. "Yes, we were lucky enough to meet through a mutual friend of ours."

"She means Reg!" he told his parents happily before turning to speak to Adelaide. "Reg came over last week for dinner with his family." he said.

Adelaide felt a mix of jealousy, hurt, and anger wash over her. So Sirius wasn't dead. He was just ignoring her. Somehow that was worse.

"That's um... That's great Evan." She said, balling her little hands into fists within the sleeves of her jumper. "Um, please excuse me." She said, gracefully moving toward the backdoor. She just needed to go to her garden for a moment to steady herself.

She was not expecting to run into a tall blonde man wearing a stern expression as she reached out for the handle of the French door.

"You cannot go running off to the garden tonight. You need to make a good impression." he said quietly, trying to lead her back to their house-guests.

"I cant." she said desperately.

"You can, and you will." he said coldly, pushing her ever further back toward the front of the house. "From what I hear Evan is very kind." He added a bit less coldly.

"No, it's not Evan." She said trying to get away. Filip's grip tightened. "I miss them. I can't listen to Evan talk about them."

Filip stopped, but kept his grip on her arm. "Who?"

She struggled to get free. If she could just get to her garden she would be able to calm down. Him holding her hostage would have the opposite effect.

Filip loosened his grip, but still kept her from running away. "Who?" He asked again.

"S-Sirius and Regulus." She said softly as he nodded. An unreadable expression washing over his deep set eyes.

"You need to focus on Evan for now." He said softly. Adelaide wondered what he meant by 'for now'...

Eventually, Filip succeeded in dragging Adelaide back to their guests and had her give Evan a tour of the Manor, showing him were he would be staying.

"Your house is so cool!" Evan said, looking around in wonder as Adelaide showed him all the main rooms. She really never noticed anything particularly special about it, but she had always found it quite pretty with the marble white walls and staircases, winding hallways and high ceilings. Didn't everyone have a statue of their ancestor sitting atop a horse in their atrium? No, no... horses were a Fawley thing, perhaps they had other animals in statue form.

"Um... This is your room, mine is the next floor up." She said softly, leading Evan to a handsome room decorated in dark woods, deep emerald green, and white.

"What's up with you Addy?" the brunette boy asked, sitting down on the fluffy white and emerald four-poster bed, patting the spot next to him for Adelaide to join him.

"I miss Sirius and Regulus." She mumbled. "I haven't seen them since school let out."

"What?! I thought your parents were best mates! I figured you of all people must see them once a week!"

Adelaide shook her head sadly.

"Regulus had a growth spurt... he's taller than you now." Evan chuckled, spirits lifting as he saw Adelaide smile. "And Sirius is a bit taller too, but his voice is in that weird spot between being low and high." He laughed. "maybe he just doesn't want you to hear his voice crack." Evan offered.

Adelaide shrugged, "Maybe." she said with a little smile.

"So, what's the plan for the week?" Evan asked.

"Plan?"

"Well I'm assuming you don't actually fancy marrying me, so we should probably come up with a plan to make sure they don't find us _'compatible'_ or whatever."

"You are such a Slytherin." Adelaide commented as she smirked. "I thought it might be best to act like we hate each other, but you sort of ruined that bit at the beginning."

"We could still hate each other... we could be ... friendly enemies... frenemies!" Evan said excitedly as Adelaide raised an eyebrow. "It's enemies that act like they're friends." he clarified. Adelaide grinned evilly.

"That just might work Mr. Rosier... but don't call it that stupid name. Friendly enemies will do just fine. Oh, by the way... don't use the soap in that bathroom, unless you fancy having pink nails."

"Good to know..."

"erm... and don't open the window.." she warned.

"What happens if I open the window?"

"A flock of birds will peck at your hair and build a nest on top of it while you sleep." she stated casually.

"Good Merlin Addy! I thought you were only pretending to hate me!"

"I wasn't completely sure if it was you that was coming today and I had to make provisions..." She said with an amused smile and half-shrug .

"Ugh! Well let me know if you forget anything before I end up with my shoes as turtles or something..." He grumbled.

"I would have turned them into hedge hogs... harder to chase down..." she giggled as he looked at her in horror. Adelaide looked out the window, adorned in dark velvet green drapes, and watched as the sun began to sink behind the trees. "I um... I'll be right back... erm... have to use the loo." She muttered as she sprinted out the room. She swiftly pulled out her wand, checking to see that no one else was in the hall, then softly murmured the incantation with the wand to her chest.

"What are you up to Miss Adelaide?" asked the cheerful booming voice of Allen Rosier just as she slipped the wand back in her pocket.

"Oh! I was showing Evan to his room! I had to step out to blow my nose... allergies." She lied unflinchingly.

"Ah, you know I think there is a potion that can fix that up for you, why don't we go see if Aquila has some tucked away in her bag, yeah?" he said with a smile. Adelaide was pleasantly surprised by his niceness, could he really be as bad as her parents?

As it turned out, Aquila did happen to have some of the Allergy potion with her, which Adelaide drank if for no other reason than not to be caught in her lie.

That evening at dinner Adelaide sat beside Evan and noticed that his eyebrows were distinctly purple. He scowled at her, furrowing the little purple brows on his face together as she tried desperately not to laugh.

"Thank you for the make over Adelaide." Evan muttered.

"Sanctimonious Salazar! What on earth has happened to your face Evan?!" Aquila asked in horror whilst Mr. Fawley sent a look to Adelaide.

"I um.. I dunno... I brushed my hair before dinner and well this happened." He said pointing to his face. Cathryn Fawley made a disapproving noise.

Adelaide caught Allen coughing to hide a laugh... and Aquila subsequently elbowing him in the side. "Allen. Fix our sons face!" She hissed.

Allen sighed, them pulled out his wand and righted the eyebrows.

After the 'eyebrow incident', Evan tried very hard to prank Adelaide back, and was successful in jinxing her to sing during lunch halfway through the week, and in charming her dish to run away with her spoon when she tried to eat her pie that Friday night. But, going into a prank war with a member of the Marauders meant that Evan was inevitably on the losing end of the fight.

"That damn Marauder..." Evan grumbled under his breath as he tried to track down the last of his shoes... well hedgehogs... as they raced around his room so he could finish packing to leave.

"Need some help?" Adelaide smirked walking in the room.

"No no. You've done enough already!" Evan said quickly, trying to coax one of the little critters closer.

"There's a simple way to catch them Evan." Adelaide teased.

"I have it handled!" Evan said reaching out to grab the hedgehog... but falling on his face empty handed. The hedgehog, seeing that his vision was obstructed, took the opportunity to bounce upon the back of his head, messing up his perfectly quaffed locks.

"I can see that..." Adelaide laughed loudly, practically wheezing as she watched Evan try to catch what used to be his shoes.

Finally, Evan stood in front of her, breathing heavily, clothes a mess, hair sticking up every which way, and his handsome face red and beading with sweat.

"Would you like some help now?" Adelaide smirked.

Evan just gave her an annoyed face. She rolled her eyes, then pulled out her wand. "Accio Hedgehogs." She said calmly. The two hedgehogs zoomed into the palm of her right hand. She then pointed the wand toward the two of them and muttered the counter-spell, turning them back into some rather big shoes.

"Thanks." Evan muttered, grabbing the shoes. "You win." He said as he sat down upon the bed to lace up his sneakers.

"I win?"

"Yes. You win our little prank skirmish or whatever."

"This has been War Rosier." Adelaide smirked.

"Whatever. You win. Now please don't jinx me anymore!" He asked desperately.

"Okay." Adelaide shrugged with a smile. "I'm going to miss having you around Ev."

"Not going to lie, I will really enjoy not having to fear what's going to come out of my shampoo bottle when I get home, but I'll miss you too Addy." He said with a sadness clouding his blue-green eyes.

"Um Evan... there's something I wanted to talk to you about... erm. It's about your parents."

"What about them?"

"Well... its just... they don't really seem all that bad." Adelaide said timidly. She remembered what Evan had said about hating muggles and muggle-borns before, but she hadn't heard his parents mention a single thing about them the whole visit.

"That's what makes it worse Addy. They seem all nice and stuff, but they aren't. They hate muggles and muggle-borns and anyone that isn't pure witch or wizard, but they're really nice about it. They fool everyone by being nice without being kind."

Adelaide blinked. It was one thing to be outright horrible, but people like the Rosier's who act normal, even likable, but hold deeply set prejudicial views and beliefs felt more dangerous.

"I think I understand..." she said softly. She glanced over to see a small black book laying near Evan's suitcase. It looked fairly familiar... then it hit her. It looked fairly similar to the diary she had accidentally seen in Mr. Riddle's mind.

She had been so focused on trying to prank Evan that she had almost forgotten to ask if he had met the creepy man as well.

"Evan. Have you met a man named Mr. Riddle." She asked curiously. Evan's face paled. "Evan? Are you alright?"

"I-I have." He said, voice shaking.

"What do you know about him?"

"Uh- um... I think he was some sort of wiz kid in school... won lots of awards... " he trailed off, looking away.

Adelaide didn't know how to take his excessive awkwardness. "He came to dinner a few weeks ago." She told him.

"Y-you talked to him?!" Evan asked in a panic. "Addy! He-he can—he can—"

"Read minds? Yes. I know." She said casually.

"You know?! How are you so calm about it?! I only met him once at some party and he fished around in my head the whole time, it was awful!"

"Oh. Well I didn't let him wander too far."

"You didn't _let_ him?! Addy I heard my parents talking about it when they didn't know I was listening and they said he's a _really really_ powerful Legilimens."

"EVAN! TIME TO LEAVE!" they heard a booming voice bellow from down the hall.

"Addy. Just stay away from that guy okay?" Evan said desperately. Adelaide nodded, head full of more and more questions as she walked Evan down and saw him and his family off.

She was walking back up to her room to brush up on Occlumency, when the terrifying eyes of a bird of prey targeted her, stopping her in her tracks.

"Adelaide. Follow me." Cathryn Fawley said in a icy cold voice.

Adelaide felt an electric shock run down her spine in fear, or perhaps in memory.

Adelaide followed her mother to the drawing room, sitting upon the dark couch, facing her terrifying mother. Her perpetually impassive father was no where to be found.

"Adelaide. I will not tolerate your foolishness any longer." Her mother spat. Adelaide took in a sharp breath. "Yes. We were all too aware of the childish escapades between you and young Mr. Rosier... you have _embarrassed_ us."

Adelaide felt the lump in her throat grow as tears prickled within the corners of her eyes.

"You will not behave in such a way when the next suitors come to visit. Do you understand?"

Adelaide nodded furiously.

"Speak!"

"Yes mother I understand. I'll be good." She said, trying to hold in her tears.

"If you so much as put a toe out of line the rest of the summer, you will be punished." Cathryn Fawley said in a deathly low voice.

"I'll be good. I promise."

Cathryn nodded. "Another thing, Mr. Riddle will be your new tutor for the summer." She said before swiftly walking out of the room.

Adelaide sat, breathing slowly, willing her tears to stay put, then ran out to the garden pulling out the mirror. "Sirius Orion Black The Third!" She said, stifling a sob. "Dammit Padfoot! Answer!" she cried. "Sirius O-Orion B-B-Black The Th-Third!" she cried desperately into the mirror, falling to her knees on the dirty ground.

"Padfoot! P-Please answer!" she begged the mirror before falling into uncontrollable sobs. Why wouldn't he answer?! "Sirius P-Please! I n-need you!" she screamed.

"Addykins?" said a strangely familiar, but low voice. "Addykins! Why are you crying!? Ads! What's wrong?!"

Adelaide looked to the mirror which held only her own tearstained face, then looked up to see a tall boy with long curly hair running toward her through the garden holding a bouquet of lavender flowers.

"WHY THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN IGNORING ME FOR A MONTH!?" She screamed furiously through her tears.


	40. Chapter 40

**Chapter 40- The Unexpected Visitor**

"WHY THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN IGNORING ME FOR A MONTH!?" Adelaide screamed furiously through her tears.

Sirius looked back at her speechlessly, slowing his pace as he made his way toward his emotional best friend.

"WHY ARE YOU HERE?!" She screamed, crying harder still. She was so angry with him, but also missed him and sort of wanted a hug.

"It's um... it's a funny story actually..."

"DO I LOOK LIKE I AM IN THE MOOD FOR A FUNNY STORY PADFOOT?!"

"No... I'd say you weren't. Um... I got you these.." he said holding out the bouquet of lavender flowers, cringing as Adelaide furiously screamed a steady stream of expletives.

"HOW ARE YOU HERE?!"

"Ads, I promise I'll explain everything, but first please just tell me what's wrong!" He said. Adelaide shot him a glare. "Ugh, please tell me what's wrong... besides me being a terrible best friend." He clarified, moving closer as she buried her face in her hands sobbing.

"Addykins... please just tell me what to do!" He begged.

"Just hug me you idiot." She mumbled furiously.

He was not about to refuse her, not that he would anyway. Sirius sunk down to the ground beside her and held her as she cried into his chest. He sat with her, gently stroking her soft light-blonde hair, and wishing he could make her as happy as she was that day by the lake. But he couldn't. All he could do was be there for her, and he was already doing a terrible job at that this summer.

"W-why didn't you answer?" Adelaide finally hiccuped. "I called you every morning and n-night." she said catching her breath.

"My mum took the mirror away at the beginning of summer. I tried to steal it back, but Kreature kept moving it..."

Adelaide sat up to whack him upside the head. "YOU IDIOT! You should have found a better place to hide it!" she scolded.

"I know! I know! Believe me. It's been torture not being able to talk to you Ads!" he said desperately. Adelaide rolled her eyes, somewhat pleased that it was just as torturous for him as it was for her.

"So why are you here?" she asked.

"You won't believe me if I tell you."

"I'm not in the mood to fish for answers Sirius. Please just tell me." She sighed, absolutely exhausted.

Sirius reached up to brush away a few tears from her delicate face. "Your dad invited me."

"What?!"

"He invited me to stay the whole summer..." he said. He expected Adelaide to be happy, thrilled in fact, but her face was marred with worry.

"W-What about Regulus?!" She asked.

"He's back home..." Sirius said slowly. "Addy, aren't you happy?"

Adelaide blinked. "Y-yes— of course! But it doesn't make any sense..."

Her father invited Sirius for the whole summer... _Just_ Sirius?! He _hated_ Sirius! And what did this mean about all the other suitors? Why would they have Sirius stay with them during such an important summer?! And Sirius would be there at the same time as Mr. Riddle... her new tutor. Surely Sirius would be a distraction. None of this made any sense!

"Did he say why?! When did you know you were coming to stay with us? Why didn't regulus come too?" She asked quickly.

"Woah Ads! Slow down! I didn't know I was coming until yesterday, and he didn't really explain why to me. He talked to my parents a long time though. I tried to listen in, but they weren't even talking about me, they were talking about that creep my mum fancies."

Adelaide swore she felt her heart stop.

"Mr. Riddle." She said through gritted teeth.

"Yep. That's the bloke." Sirius answered with a shiver.

"He's part of the reason I was crying." She informed him, his grey eyes wide with shock. "That and what my mother said earlier... Evan and I had a prank war this week, mum didn't like it and basically said if I step out of line again she'll blast me with the cruciatus curse."

"NO! No I won't let her! I'll keep you safe Ads. I can make sure she doesn't.. hurt.. you..." Sirius trailed off, remembering what Filip had said at the train station.

 _'...Perhaps we aren't the monsters you should be worrying about...'_

"Ads. Why did Riddle make you cry?"

"H-he's going to be my tutor over the summer... He can read minds Sirius. He's a legilimens. I managed to block him out at dinner... but I dunno if I can keep it up for that long... and there's just something so off about him. I swear my parents even seem afraid of him."

"Wait. Your dad. He seemed _afraid_?" Sirius asked, grey eyes boring into her, remembering the look of fear he saw in Filip Fawley's eyes when they spoke.

"W-Well... he seemed upset... maybe not _afraid_ per say..."

Sirius stared off into the distance with a bewildered look upon his ruggedly handsome face. "That bastard..." he said under his breath. "That brilliant bastard..."

"Um. Padfoot. Care to share?"

"He wants me to protect you. He doesn't care about me... but he does care about _you_." Sirius said with a manic laugh. "He said so himself! I didn't believe him then... but then at the train station..."

"Who?! What are you talking about!? If it's Riddle, he definitely cares about you too. I heard my dad say so over Christmas."

"Wait. WHAT?!"

"I told you this! Didn't I?"

"NO!"

"Oh. Well... erm... dad said something about Mr Riddle and the both of you. You and Reg." She told him hesitantly, a little startled by his wild expression. "Said you would be good 'assets' or something like that. I can't really remember it was a long time ago..."

"Well that just proves my point."

"WHAT POINT?!" Adelaide asked, getting very frustrated with his cryptic answers.

"Your dad wants me to protect you. Though, based on how you handled your own against Moony, I think you'd probably be better suited to protect me." He chuckled. Adelaide looked at him as if he was completely insane.

"My father doesn't care about me Sirius." Adelaide told him, as if this disproved his whole theory.

"I think you're wrong there Ads—"

The tree wiggled. With a crisp 'SNAP' Mimsy appeared in the garden eyeing the two youngsters on the ground.

"Miss Adelaide, Mimsy cames to tell you that it's nearly sundown... and it is times for dinner." She squeaked, curiously eyeing the boy beside her little Miss Adelaide.

"Oh! Thank you!" Adelaide and Sirius both searched for their wands, looked up to the setting sun, and murmured the incantation in unison. The blonde girl looked up to her friend with a smile. "Oh! Sirius, this is Mimsy! Mimsy, this is Sirius!"

"Sirius Orion Black the Third! You are heres!" Mimsy cheered with a few little excited claps, before scowling with spindly hands on her little hips. "Why dids you ignore Miss Adelaide!?"

Sirius looked off footed by the feisty creature and glanced over to Adelaide for assistance. She couldn't help but laugh at his expression. "Mimsy, his mum took away the mirror and his house elf hid it from him."

"Yeah, that stupid pig faced Walburga loving sack of crap..." Sirius muttered under his breath, referring to the old house elf at his own home. Adelaide whacked him upside the head. "Ow! What was that for?!" Adelaide gave a pointed look at the grumpy elf in front of him. She would not tolerate that kind of language around her sweet Mimsy.

"Come on. Let's go to dinner." Adelaide said, pulling Sirius up from the ground... or trying to at least.

"You're so little." He teased with a smug look whilst she tugged on his arm in vain.

"Ugh! Just get up!"

Adelaide and Sirius laughed as they walked up to the house to get washed up for dinner, talking about what all pranks she had unleashed upon the unprepared Slytherin.

"I cant believe you did the hedgehog thing!" Sirius laughed loudly. "That's brilliant!"

"I see you have found our new visitor." Said the calm quiet voice of Mr. Fawley as he appeared in front of them.

Sirius looked up at the man. "Actually _I_ found _her_ in the garden."

Adelaide eyed the interaction closely as her father merely nodded with a strange look and ushered them toward the dining room.

Cathryn Fawley looked on edge: nervously tapping her fingers, head twitching around the room as they joined her in the dining room.

It didn't take long for them to understand why.

Sirius scooted closer to Adelaide as the man with blood red eyes came into view.

"Ah! Lovely! How lovely it is to see you both again! Miss Adelaide, Mr. Black." The tall man with dark hair greeted. "Come come! Let's not let this delicious dinner go to waste!" he said with a wide, terrifyingly charming smile.

Adelaide took a deep breath, feeling much more steady overall now that she had Sirius with her. She was surprised, yet pleased, to find that she could keep the creepy man out of her mind with ease.

Riddle was _not_ quite so pleased. Adelaide did not miss the concentrated look he gave that betrayed his charming exterior. "Mr. Riddle, I hear you are going to be my new tutor! What types of things will we be covering?" She asked, stitching her lips up with a sweet smile.

Mr. Riddle looked at her curiously. "I thought that perhaps we could work on security charms... Quite tricky, but very useful."

"Adelaide is already brilliant at security charms." Sirius interjected stiffly, eyeing the man with contempt.

"I would expect nothing less, but there is always more to learn, room to improve... What would _you_ like to cover Sirius?" The man asked. Adelaide eyed Mr. Fawley as his eyes flashed with yet another unreadable expression.

"Me?!" Sirius exclaimed incredulously.

"Why yes! I will be tutoring the both of you... were you not curious as to why you were staying with the Fawleys?"

Adelaide watched as Sirius's face paled. Sirius was wrong. This wasn't about him protecting her. It was about Mr. Riddle trying to mess with his head. But why? What was the point of all this? Why was he so keen on teaching the two of them? Did he see her as an 'asset' too? And what would she be an 'asset' for exactly?

Adelaide watched as Riddle focused his eyes on Sirius.

He was trying to break into his mind.

She had to distract him.

Without thinking, Adelaide subtly pointed her finger at a Riddle's glass of wine and wordlessly shattered it to pieces, deep red liquid pouring out onto the table.

Everyone looked on with wide eyes of astonishment... everyone except Riddle, who looked rather pleased by the fact that his wine glass had been blown to smithereens.

"Well done Miss Adelaide." He praised. "I knew you could do wandless magic, but non-verbal as well! You really are quite accomplished."

Adelaide gulped. "I don't know what you are talking about." she said cooly.

"Ah, I think you do." Riddle said with a high cold laugh... The same high cold laugh she had heard before in a dream... in a _nightmare_.


	41. Chapter 41

**Chapter 41- Can't or Won't**

Adelaide sat in the cold, rarely used sitting room on the east side of the manor. The air was still and stale from laying in disuse for so long, despite the thorough dusting it regularly received. Adelaide never did understand why they didn't use the room more often. It was quite pretty, and much more cheerful than some of the other rooms in the great building, with large windows that framed the outward facing walls flooding the room with light, reflecting off of the bright white of the walls and furniture.

The small girl twiddled her thumbs and charmed the two quills upon the table to tango with each other as a means to pass the time before her first lesson.

Honestly, she didn't even really see the need in a lesson like this from that creepy crazy man, but knew better than to go against her mother and father's wishes.

The week since the tense dinner with Riddle and the arrival of her best friend had been some of the best days she'd ever spent at her home. The two Gryffindors were practically attached at the hip. She suffered through him droning on about Quidditch, while he risked being bored to death as Adelaide went on and on about whatever book she had read recently. That isn't to say they didn't do things that they both enjoyed. During the day they would escape to the garden, planning pranks, practicing their flying, and chatting to their hearts content, then at night they often would sneak into the others room just to talk about whatever random musings that were on their minds.

Adelaide felt like it was almost too good to be true, and of course... it _was_.

Mr. Riddle entered the bright room looking rather out of place in his simple black suit. Adelaide hadn't noticed before, but his face was pale, much paler than her own, and his skin was waxy... almost reptilian.

"Good morning! Lovely to see you again so soon... you've had a good week I trust?" He said genially as he slithered into the room.

Adelaide forced a polite smile. "Yes, a very pleasant week, sir." She said, masking her near hatred for the man, both in her face and in her mind.

"Yes, your father tells me that you have been thoroughly enjoying your time with your new house guest. I am happy to hear you and Sirius have been getting on well... your mother tried to argue against it, but I thought you may enjoy having him around."

Adelaide felt her heart thumping a bit quicker, and with a bit more ferocity within her chest. "Excuse me?"

A wide reptilian smile stretched across Riddle's waxy face. "Ah, you see it was by my suggestion that Sirius come to visit with you." He informed her, taking amusement in her disgust. "I seem to remember you wanting to see him at the Gala earlier this summer..." he said casually, sitting in the bright white armchair across from her, blood red eyes challenging her.

Adelaide didn't care who he was, she was sick of him and she was sick of his games and refused to play along anymore.

"You mean when you poked around in my head without permission." She spat, forest green eyes matching his intensity.

Riddle's face turned cold and dangerous for a moment as he leaned forward, gripping the arm of the chair in which he was sitting tightly, clenching his jaw. He bowed his head, closing his eyes for a moment to take a deep steadying breath, then looked up again with a twisted smile full of malice. "I suppose we both have some issues with _minding our manners_." He said tightly, giving her a pointed look.

"Why are you really here? What is it that you want?" She asked emotionlessly, picture perfect posture, face never reflecting the almost electric sense of fear rushing through her veins, nor the aura of unease she felt by just being near the man.

"Adelaide. You are a perceptive girl. I will not insult your intelligence by lying to you." He said leaning back in the armchair. "You possess a great many gifts. Gifts that I believe would be best served for purposes greater than yourself."

"What about Sirius?" She asked quickly. She needed to know if he was another 'gifted asset' for his 'greater purpose' or a pawn in his plot before she could dig for more information.

"Sirius Black is a very talented boy... a bit strong-willed... but then again, so are _we_." He said with a smile, just trying to rile her up. Which of course he did. Adelaide felt her stomach curdle at the thought of being a 'we' with _him._ "I see that you care a great deal for the boy... by aligning yourself with _me_ , you will be able to protect him."

"I can protect him now." She said quickly and confidently.

"You only _think_ you can. You'll soon find out that even your cleverness is not a match for _real_ power." He said in a low voice. "Power _I_ can give to you."

"I don't want power." She said stubbornly. No, all she really wanted, especially in this particular moment, was to get as far away from this weirdo as physically possible.

" _Everyone_ wants power Miss Fawley." The man said with a smile. "But some are too weak to seek it. _You_ are _not_ weak." He said shaking his head, eyeing her greedily as he did at the Gala, trying to read her thoughts.

"Why do you need me? What is this 'greater purpose' rubbish?" She asked quickly and impatiently. "And for the love of Merlin, stop trying to break into my head!" She said huffily. She was sick of all of this, sick of him, sick of the mind games, sick of all his cryptic sneers. All of it.

His face flashed with the dangerous look again. But this time, Adelaide wasn't afraid. She knew there was nothing he could throw at her that she couldn't handle. She'd already lived and relived through being tortured after all.

"Perhaps Filip was correct. Perhaps you _are_ too young..." he muttered mostly to himself. "Not enough respect... not nearly enough restraint... no... I'm afraid you aren't ready to understand just yet." He said, hands together in a steeple, tapping his thumbs together in thought.

"Does this mean we don't have to have this stupid lesson?" Adelaide whined impatiently. If acting childish was getting her out of this, she was going to ham it up as much as possible.

"No. Not yet."

"Well lovely, because Sirius and I have some very important pranking business to attend to involving a dung-bomb and a bubble-bath." She said, standing up.

Riddle looked almost scandalized for a moment, then let her leave.

Once far out of view, Adelaide ran as quickly as her short little legs would take her toward the garden where she knew Sirius would be waiting.

"Pads!— Padfoot!—" she called out of breath, looking around for her curly headed companion. She followed the sound of voices deep into the garden near where all her purple flowers were planted.

"Mimsy! Come on! Please! Just one flower?!" Sirius begged.

"NO NO NO!" The house elf squealed furiously, neither one aware of the blonde eavesdropper hiding behind an old stone pillar. "Miss Adelaide told Mimsy to keeps her purple flowers safe! Mimsy will not let Sirius Orion Black The Third ruin them with his grubbsy hands!"

"Just one flower Mims! It's for Adelaide!" Sirius exclaimed in exasperation.

"No! You wills have to ask Miss Adelaide fors permission." She said, crossing her thin arms across her little chest.

"But it was going to be a surprise! Come on!"

"A surprise? Mimsy likes surprises... so does Miss Adelaide..." the house elf trailed off. "ONE! One flower! Only one!"

Sirius hugged the elf tightly. "You're the best house elf I've ever met." He said sincerely before studying the flower bed.

Adelaide rolled her eyes at his antics and scurried off to the tree swing she loved so much. After a while, she became impatient of waiting for Sirius to find her and wondered around to a grassy clearing where she would often practice her flying. She laid on her back upon the soft green grass, white-blonde hair fanning around her like a halo, and sighed contentedly looking up at the clear blue sky.

"Addykins! I didn't think you'd be done this soon!" Sirius said happily, padding his way through the field to sit beside her as she rolled onto her stomach, propping herself up by her forearm and looking up to him with a smile as her hair moved wildly around her face in the breeze.

Adelaide noticed that Sirius seemed to be hiding something behind his back... probably the stolen flower.

"Whatcha got there Pads?" She asked with a sly smile, waiting for him to present her with one of her own flowers.

"I erm.. I made you something. I thought you might need something to cheer you up after hanging out with Creepy McSketchypants this morning." He said a little shyly.

"Well let's see it then!" Adelaide said excitedly.

Sirius pulled out, not a flower, but a glass bell jar encompassing what looked like a miniature version of her favorite part of the garden. She looked in awe of the little purple flowers blooming in the flower beds, the tree swing moving back and forth of its own accord, her stone gazebo charmed with miniature fairy lights all around.

It was absolutely breathtakingly beautiful.

"I-I mean Mimsy helped a bit... but I mostly found all the spells from all those charm books you have laying around... I mean I can always change it if you want something different... or turn it back into a flower..." Sirius rambled on, not noticing Adelaide still staring in awe at his creation.

Adelaide sniffled, jerking Sirius out of his ramblings. "It's perfect. It's absolutely perfect." She said, wiping a away a tear with the back of her wrist, smiling a wide watery smile.

"So you like it?" Sirius asked with a very James-Potter-like grin.

"I love it." She said sincerely, making Sirius grin wider.

"So... not to ruin the moment or whatever, but why _are_ you done so soon?"

Adelaide sighed, running her fingers over the glass of the bell-jar for a long few moments, then took a deep breath and retold Sirius the events of the morning.

Once finished retelling the weird conversation with Riddle McCreepypants, she was surprised that Sirius didn't have anything to say.

"Sirius...? You okay?"

Sirius looked out into the trees lining the clearing, deep in thought, eyebrows scrunched together, lips pressed together in a thin line (not unlike Minnie's), and arms crossed over his chest.

The breeze was blowing both of their hair around a bit wildly, but Sirius didn't seem to even notice. Adelaide, worried about her friend's reaction, scooted over to him and tucked a particularly feisty lock of dark curly hair behind his ear.

"Pads. Say something. You're sort of freaking me out..." she trailed off.

Sirius snapped out of his trance, and looked over to her with more seriousness than she had ever seen him possess.

"I'm getting you out of here." He told her. "I'm going to find a way to get you out of here."

"Sirius..." she began.

"Adelaide. I'm not joking."

"I know you're not." She said sadly. "But you also have no idea how difficult that will be."

"No. I have a plan Ads. Well a few actually..."

"Sirius. I can't leave! I can't."

"Can't or _won't_?" He pressed.

"Sirius..."

Sirius looked into her face and found the answer he was dreading. "I can't believe this! Addy do you actually _want_ to stay here?" He asked indignantly, "Those people you call parents are crazy Adelaide. I know I said your dad cared before, but now I know he doesn't. I'm sorry but it's true. Why would you want to stay with these monsters!?"

"They're— they're still my family..."

"Family?! FAMILY?! No! Addykins those people are not your family! _We_ are! Me, James, Peter, Remus, and even Mary! _We_ are the ones that know you! _We_ are the ones that _love_ you! NOT THOSE MONSTERS!"

"Stop it!"

"NO! I won't stop! I won't let you stay here out of fear with a bunch of crazies who don't know the first thing about you!"

"Sirius just stop!" She said desperately. "I don't want to fight with you!"

"I'M FIGHTING _FOR_ YOU ADS! UGHHH!" sirius exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air to express his utter exasperation, then walking away from her.

"Where are you going?!"

"You said you wanted me to stop. The only way I can do that is to just not talk to you at all." He said without turning around.

Adelaide called for him to come back... but he didn't.

She ran after him... but even when she found him he wouldn't speak to her.

He wouldn't even look at her.


	42. Chapter 42

**Chapter 42-** **People Are Kind To Those They Love**

"Sirius... It's been a week... How long are you planning to keep up this whole vow of silence thing?" Adelaide asked sadly, creeping into his room wearing her pink cat slippers, purple night gown, and a pout upon her lips.

Sirius 'hmmphed' from where he sat reading in his big squashy bed.

"Padfoot... I miss you..."

Sirius considered calling off the whole stupid plan right then and there, as he saw her look at him with big pleading dark green eyes, but he didn't. He sat still and went back to reading 'quidditch through the ages', masking the deep longing he had to talk to his best friend, to hear her laugh, to see her smile, to hug her... No. He couldn't feel those things. This was for her own good. At least that's what he told himself.

Truth was, Sirius was long past actually being upset with her. He was just keeping up the whole silent treatment charade because he was being a stubborn idiot that was too prideful to say he was sorry for blowing up on her.

After a long few moments of silence, Adelaide sat down on the edge of the fluffy bed. "Finn will be here tomorrow," She informed him softly, "and the Weather Seer for the Daily Prophet said there's a chance of an electrical storm around the time of my birthday..." she added. Sirius looked up, grey eyes full of so many different emotions: excitement, regret, sadness... "Also, I planned a little birthday party for Mimsy in a few days in the garden. It will really just be me and you... or I guess maybe just me... and some of the other house elves she's friends with from the other pureblood houses. I already warned her not to invite Kreature though..." she added. Sirius's face tilted into an involuntary half-smile, but he quickly hid his face behind the book.

Adelaide gave him one last chance to say something, but when he didn't she got up to go back to her own room. She stopped briefly by the door, turning toward her silent best friend. "Goodnight Sirius." she said softly.

"Goodnight Addykins." Sirius said softly back, just after she closed the door.

* * *

"Finn here was top of his house in History of Magic!" Sigurd Rowle said proudly, looking over at his smug son.

Adelaide had to hide her scoff/laugh with a small cough, sharing a sideways look at Sirius. He hadn't spoken to her all day, but he also hadn't ignored her. She considered this progress.

"Adelaide was top of our whole year in Charms." Sirius said casually. Adelaide, as well as everyone else, looked on with confusion at the boy who hadn't said a word the entire night.

"Yes. She is quite gifted." Cathryn Fawley said stiffly, hating the fact that he had said the words she was thinking.

"But not in potions." Thorfinn sneered. "She nearly blew up the whole class one time." He laughed arrogantly alongside his parents. Obviously, he had forgotten that the purpose of this trip was to win over her and her family.

Mr. Fawley's normally impassive face flashed with annoyance for the pompous boy, while Sirius rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, but only because you and that greasy haired git hid the last of the moonstone!" Sirius exclaimed in defense.

"Doesn't matter, she still didn't make nearly as good of marks as I did." Finn said proudly with a venomous smile.

"You little—!"

"Pads. Calm down." Adelaide whispered to the boy beside her, placing a hand on his forearm, cutting him off before he made a scene. Sirius grumbled a bit under his breath, but didn't say anymore.

"May I ask how long young Mr. Black will be joining us?" Rosemary Rowle asked in a high and unnatural voice, unsuccessfully masking her loathing for the dark haired boy.

"He will be here the rest of summer. It was Mr. Riddle's idea." Adelaide answered sharply. She knew for a fact that Finn was 'studying' with the creepy man, and hoped that this would be enough to drop the subject of her best friend's being there.

Rosemary and her husband, Sigurd, looked taken aback, either by her words or by her brashness, but didn't bring the subject back up for the rest of their visit.

That evening, when everyone was in bed, Sirius made his way to Adelaide's room wearing his Gryffindor pajamas, the slippers she always liked to throw at the boys, and a look of deep contemplation.

He just had to do it. He had to put aside the fact that she didn't want to runaway and just apologize for being such a prat... There was no way he'd make it another day seeing that hurt in her eyes like he had the night before.

He knocked the secret knock so she would know it was him, then listened to the sound of little feet running across the room. The grand and ornate door opened to reveal Adelaide wearing an enormous smile that Sirius couldn't help but return.

He stepped in the room and sat beside her on the big four poster bed clad in green and silver.

"Addykins. I'm sorry." He said with his head hanging low, fiddling with his fingers. "I'm so sorry..."

Adelaide didn't say anything right away, but instead launched herself over to hug him fiercely. He was shocked for a moment, expecting her to hex him or even yell at him, but then he hugged her back breathing in the familiar sent of lavender that always seemed to follow her.

"Sirius I missed you." She said happily as she broke away, "but if you ever try to pull a stunt like that again I will cut off all your hair in your sleep." She said with no hint of humor to her voice. "Do you understand?"

Sirius gulped, then nodded. "Loud and clear... so tell me about this birthday party thing we're going to." He said with a smirk.

* * *

 _"Happy birthday dear Mimsy! Happy birthday to you!"_ The group sang to the little house elf within the small garden, early in the morning on August 4th. Mimsy was so happy she was in tears.

"M-Mimsy does not d-deserves all this!" The house elf sobbed, wearing a blue party hat Sirius had given to her.

"Mimsy! No more of that! You do deserve this! Now, go off and have a fun time at your party! That's an order!" Adelaide giggled.

"You did a great job with all this Ads. I have to say, I think you've set a pretty high precedent for House Elf birthday parties." Sirius chuckled, looking around the garden at the blue ribbons, blue cake, blue balloons, and blue party hats of the other House Elves.

"Mimsy's done things for me my whole life. I think it's the least I can do." Adelaide shrugged looking around at the little dancing house elves.

"Dobby, would you like to have a piece of cake?" Adelaide asked sweetly to one of the younger elves that worked for the Malfoys. The elf instantly started crying in hysterics saying how he 'was not worthy', and how Miss Adelaide was even kinder than Mimsy had said she was. She had to keep a close eye on him in case he started punishing himself, whacking his head against a tree or something.

Tears of gratefulness were prevalent among the elves Mimsy was friends with... Sirius and Adelaide just kind of got used to it after a while. Adelaide made a mental note to give out handkerchiefs as party favors the next year.

Since Adelaide could not give Mimsy any clothes, she instead gave her an enchanted bell jar (using the same sort of spells Sirius used on hers) containing a miniature field of blue flowers the same color as her electric blue eyes. Mimsy balled for an hour straight.

"M-Miss Adelaide is too kind t-to M-Mimsy—"

"Mimsy. I love you. People are kind to those they love." She said sweetly. Mimsy broke down in more tears at Miss Adelaide thinking of her as a person. As an equal.

Of course, all good things must come to an end and the party wrapped up just before the elves had to go whip up breakfast for their families.

Adelaide and Sirius creeped back to the Manor to avoid suspicion. There was no way on earth that Mr. and Mrs. Fawley would be in anyway okay with the fact that there was a party of house elves within their back garden that morning.

Adelaide and Sirius were just about back to the hallway that contained their bedrooms when they were stopped by a boy with dark red hair and hazel eyes, wearing an arrogant smirk.

"What are you two doing up so early?" He sneered.

"Oh you know, just planting dung bombs in your suitcase, jinxing your shoes to turn into hedgehogs..." Adelaide said casually with a shrug.

"Oh you forgot about charming his shirts all scarlet and gold." Sirius added unflinchingly, not missing a beat.

Finns face paled with horror and he quickly turned on his heel and ran back to check his room.

Of course they were banned from actually pranking stupid Finn, though Mrs. Fawley may have been a bit more lenient in this particular case. Still, it would be quite entertaining just to watch him be paranoid the rest of the visit.

"When are they leaving again?" Sirius asked.

"In a few more days." Adelaide answered as they both made their way into her bedroom.

"Ugh. This has been the longest week of my life. I swear if I listen to that idiot go on and on about how smart he is one more time, I'm going to go all Walburga on him." Sirius grumbled.

"Oh but Paddy! Finn is _so amazing_ and _talented!_ Haven't you heard of all his mediocre accomplishments!" Adelaide giggled.

"You know I heard his mum say something about how he would be Quidditch captain by fifth year... I've seen him fly. I think he'd honestly be pushing his luck just trying to make it onto the team." Sirius said rolling his eyes, flopping backward on Adelaide's bed as she laughed.

"You know, I've been thinking about actually trying out this year." Adelaide said casually.

Sirius bolted upright. "WHAT?! REALLY!?" he asked excitedly.

"Umm... well yeah... I just thought it might be fun. I doubt I'd actually make it though..."

"Are you kidding me?!" Sirius asked incredulously. "Of _course_ you would make it Ads!"

"Well you have to say that! You're my best friend!" She complained. "But when was the last time you saw a chaser as small as me? They're going to say I should be a seeker or something! I'm a bloody awful seeker... Stupid little snitch.." She trailed off mumbling curses to some hypothetical snitch as Sirius watched in amusement.

"Gwendolyn Morgan." Sirius said after a while.

"What?" Adelaide was completely confused.

"You asked when was the last time I saw a chaser as small as you. Gwendolyn Morgan. She played for the Hollyhead Harpies a while back, captain even. But she was tiny too. She won some week long game against that German team and when the captain of the other team proposed to her, she whacked the bloke with her broom and gave him a concussion. She was a total bad ass. Just like you."

Adelaide felt a blush blooming upon her cheeks. "I still don't see how I'm supposed to compete against giants like Martin McKinnon." She said, referring to Marlene McKinnon's older Ravenclaw brother.

"You just zoom past them. You're so little they won't even notice!" Sirius said happily. "Ads. Just try out."

"But everyone thinks I'll make it on the team... what if I don't. Do you know how embarrassing that would be!?"

"UGH! Between you and Moony I swear... Addy, who the hell cares what other people think?!"

"I do."

"Well you shouldn't." He said firmly.

"Just because I shouldn't doesn't magically mean I _can_ just stop caring Sirius." Adelaide said shortly.

"I'm just saying that you shouldn't-"

"I know what you're saying, and I don't particularly fancy hearing you say it again. Can we just talk about something else?"

"Sure... why don't you explain why you don't want to run away?" Sirius asked, half-cringing, half-smirking, knowing that he was just fanning the flames.

"REALLY?! That's what you ask! Ughh!"

"Well we never really talked about it Ads... I figured you were going to be pissed off about me bringing it up no matter when, so might as well get it over with."

"Says the boy who took over a week to bloody apologize for being an arse." Adelaide mumbled grumpily.

"Stop trying to change the subject Fawley."

Honestly, she wasn't even sure what had happened for things to escalate the way they did. She always despised her parents, and was just as surprised as he was to find out that she didn't actually want to leave.

But, after the copious amounts of self-reflection that accompanied her forced week of solitude, she realized that though she despised them, part of her still hoped that they could change. There was a little piece of her, that hoped beyond anything else in the world that there was a little piece of them, well specifically in her father, that was good, that _did_ care about her.

She had seen flashes, little specs of kindness sprinkled in with her father's stony and stoic exterior that made her believe that there was a chance, and she just couldn't leave without being absolutely sure that they were beyond the point of hope, beyond any chance for redemption. After all, they were her family, her flesh and blood... surely there was a chance...

"Ugh. I just... I dunno. It's going to sound stupid saying it out loud, but I just think that maybe they can change... or something. I mean they're my parents... surely they love me... deep down.. I just don't want to leave knowing that there was a chance..."

Sirius looked at his friend, gnawing on her lip, fiddling with her fingers, seeing how desperately she wanted to think there was hope for her parents. He didn't have the heart to tell her that he thought it was impossible. So he just nodded. "Well, if you ever change your mind, I have about 15 different plans all lined up to break you out if you so choose." Sirius said after a long moment.

"Thanks Pads." Adelaide said with a sad smile. "If I change my mind, I promise you'll be the first to know."


	43. Chapter 43

**Chapter 43- Come to Wish Me Happy Birthday?**

After a grueling week of listening to Finn Rowel and his family rant about how _incredibly_ _special_ he was, while not-so-subtly insulting Adelaide's intelligence, the whole Fawley family (plus Sirius) breathed a sigh of relief once they were out the door.

There was no doubt in Adelaide's mind that Finn had succeeded in getting his name scratched off the list of suitors by merit of his annoyingness alone. This left Adelaide with two other options: Dollie's sure-to-be terrible cousin Robert Selwyn, and the mysterious fourth suitor whom she knew absolutely nothing about. Thankfully, Adelaide wouldn't have to think about Dollie and her stupid cousins until after her birthday. Her _thirteenth_ birthday to be exact.

Growing up as an only child of fortunate means (despite her unfortunate lineage), Adelaide's parents had always given her somewhat lavish birthday gifts, her garden was just one example. But this year, her birthday wish was a simple one. She wanted to see her friends. Having Sirius around was lovely, but she missed the other boys too, as well as Regulus and Mary... She missed Lily as well, but being muggle-born, it was too much of a risk to ask her to come over as well.

However, she only voiced this wish to Sirius, knowing that it would only cause further strife between her and her parents. She settled on just asking that they redecorate her bedroom to literally any other color than the green and silver in which it was currently adorned.

"ADDYKINS! WAKE UP! ADDY! COME ON BIRTHDAY GIRL! WAKEY WAKEY!" Sirius clanged in the sleepy girl's ear, shaking her awake the morning of August 14th. "ADDY COME ON ITS ALMOST SUN-UP!"

"Stop. Shaking. Me. I swear I will hex you." she mumbled with malice.

"NO! WAKE UP ADDYKINS!!!"

Adelaide had only ever used wandless magic at home once before, and that was on creepy Mr. Riddle's cup, but this seemed like as good a time as any to try it out again.

 _"Avis!"_ she mumbled, haphazardly throwing her hand in the direction of the annoying boy.

"OUCH! ADDY!! NO! GET THESE DAMNED BIRDS OFF OF ME! OW! ADDY THEY'RE GOING TO RUIN MY HAIR!"

Adelaide smirked in her sleep, but then a second later realized that she really did need to get up.

"Oh merlin!" she exclaimed, sitting up-right, hair so messy that it could have been mistaken as a bird's nest, looking for her misplaced wand. "Ah Ha! Found ya!"

"UUGHHAAA! Adelaide Rose Fawley! You get these winged vermin away from me or I swear to merlin I will throw Dorris into the black lake the second we get back to school!!!"

"YOU WOULDN'T!!"

"DO YOU WANT TO TRY ME FAWLEY?!"

"FINE! _Finite!_ Now no more of this chitchat! Where's your wand?!" she exclaimed bossily.

"Chit Chat?! _CHIT CHAT?!_ I was being attacked by a bunch of stupid magic birds!!"

"Shhh. Now are you going to do this with me or not?" she asked loftily.

"Ugh... stupid spoiled wandless magic doing princess..." Sirius grumbled under his breath as he pulled out his wand, joining Adelaide in placing the tip to their hearts.

"Amato Animo Animato Animagus they chanted in unison.

"Adelaide!" Called a voice from outside the door. Adelaide quickly placed the wand onto the nightstand and climbed back into bed. Leaving Sirius standing all alone next to her bed looking completely exasperated.

"Ugh! Really Addykins?! Come on!" He whined.

"Sirius. May I ask why you are in my daughter's bedroom?" Her father asked sternly.

Sirius gulped. "I was trying to wake her up..."

Mr. Fawley looked over to the 'sleeping' girl. "You don't seem to have been very successful... Why are there bird feathers in your hair?!" he asked completely appalled.

"That would probably be because she charmed a flock of magical birds to attack me sir."

"She what?! Adelaide!"

"Oh. Good morning everyone. Come to wish me happy birthday?" She asked sheepishly.

"Adelaide!" He said again in a warning tone.

"I was half asleep! He was yelling in my ear! Violently shaking me–"

"It was _not_ violent! But those damn birds were..."

Filip looked between the two bickering teenagers and did something he _never_ did, at least not genuinely: he smiled.

"... I've told you a thousand times! I hate it when you do that!"

"Why don't you two get ready... Mimsy made a special birthday breakfast." he said, just before leaving the room... trying to hide his amused grin.

"... but do you listen? noooo..."

"Addy! Stop!"

"No! I will not stop until you get it in through your thick skull that–"

"Addy. Your dad just smiled. Like _legitimately_ smiled." Sirius said cutting her off.

" _What_?"

"You missed it because you were berating me." he deadpanned.

"Are you sure?"

"Ugh! Pretty sure! He was standing right there!"

"Weird.. maybe he's sick or something?" she said, trying to not get her hopes up.

"Maybe..."

Adelaide pondered this for a moment, then quickly shooed Sirius out of the room so she could get ready. She decided to wear her favorite lavender sundress, and tried out a new hair charm she learned to smooth out her birds nest into long soft waves of pale blonde hair.

She made her way down the many steps of the manor to the wooden breakfast table of the kitchen.

Sirius looked at her for a very long moment with a blank expression that did not go unnoticed by Mr. Fawely.

"D-did you do something different with your hair?" Sirius asked.

"Oh! I tried out a new charm on it... why does it look bad?!"

"No! No it looks good tufts." he said with a goofy grin.

Adelaide moved her 'good looking' hair in front of her face to hide her blush, an action that also did not go unnoticed by Mr. Fawley.

"Well. I do believe we have quite the busy day today." Mr. Fawley said, painting on his stoic expression once more.

Adelaide eyed him curiously as she munched on her purple pancakes, while Mrs. Fawley made a sort of disapproving noise.

"We will need to leave here no later than noon, so be sure to be by the fireplace by then, and no flying today..."

"Yes sir." Adelaide said sadly. She had been working everyday for the past week and a half with Sirius on her flying, trying to perfect her Chaser skills before they returned to school in a few weeks. "Um... Excuse me... but are we going somewhere?" she asked with excitement twinkling in her dark green eyes.

Her mother looked in her direction, her own hazel eyes softening for a fraction of a moment. "Yes." she answered simply.

"Where?" Sirius asked bluntly, causing Mrs. Fawley's face to turn into it's usual look of disgust.

"It's a surprise." Mr. Fawley said absently as he read through the paper, pale blonde hair combed back into perfection.

Adelaide and Sirius both looked at each other with wide eyes and little smiles creeping up the corners of their lips.

Most of Adelaide's morning was spent with her mother trying to figure out how she wanted to redecorate her room and what colors they would use. This gave Sirius the time he needed to make the finishing touches wrapping her birthday present, holed up in the old dusty library that only Adelaide was ever brave enough to rummage through.

By 11:55am, they had all re-congregated near the great white marble fireplace of the formal living room. The group left in pairs, Adelaide with her mother, Sirius with her father, to an address in Tinworth, Cornwall. Adelaide had absolutely no idea why they were going to Cornwall of all places, but figured it must be to go see some stuffy relative.

She was shocked to find herself standing in a bright breezy cottage overlooking a picturesque view of the sea. She could hear the crashing of the waves, and could smell the crisp sent of the salty sea-side even from within the cottage walls. The cottage itself was full of light and had a pair of soft off-white couches and armchairs filling the living area, as well as lavender party decorations and balloons, with a glittering miniature firework display over the top of a rather large purple and white cake.

Adelaide and Sirius were both in awe.

"SURPRISE!" screamed a large group of familiar people springing out from behind the couches and other furniture, causing both Adelaide and Sirius to jump in fright.

"HAHAHAHAH! PADFOOT YOU SHOULD HAVE SEEN YOUR FACE!" Yelled the booming voice of none other than James Potter.

"Happy Birthday Tufts!" Remus said politely, running up to give her a hug. "Thank you for having us here Mr. and Mrs. Fawley." he said kindly, looking up to the two impassive parents who each gave a nod of sorts in acknowledgment. Surprise parties were really not their thing... well more specifically children's birthday parties were not their thing... or perhaps it was just children in general.

Regardless, it was obvious that this was very much out of their comfort zone.

"ADDY!" cried out a much taller Mary McDonald who soon engulfed the shorter girl in a warm hug. "ADDY I M-MISSED YOU S-SO M-MUCH!"

"Mary! Don't cry!" Adelaide said with a smile, pulling away and grabbing a napkin off one of the tables holding snacks and handing it to her emotional best friend. "How is this... how are you all here?!" she exclaimed, looking around the room to see Peter standing with the marauders near the cake, probably trying to eat it without getting caught, Evan and Regulus standing in another corner, and all the parents looking rather awkward in the kitchen.

"Oh! Your dad set the whole thing up! I _know_! I was just as surprised as you were when I found out. But it's true! Apparently Sirius told him that you really wanted to see your friends for your birthday and well... here we are!" she said with a giggle, flipping her long dark hair behind her shoulder. "Did you say hi to Lily yet?"

"Lily... LILY?" Adelaide exclaimed, looking frantically around the room for her auburn haired friend. "LILLLYYY!!!!" Adelaide screamed, running full force toward the unsuspecting red-head.

"oomf... Hiya Ads." Lily said through a mass of light blonde hair as she was squeezed in a rib breaking hug. "Man you're stronger than you look." She said as the girl let go.

"LILY WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!"

"I was under the impression I was attending a birthday party, a surprise party to be more specific." She said with a cheeky grin.

"No! I mean..." Adelaide moved closer so as to whisper to her best friend. "You're a muggle-born, it's not safe... I mean I'm thrilled you are here... but how–"

"They think I'm Mary's cousin." she said with a wink.

"Oh I do believe our mischievous ways are rubbing off on you Lily Flower. James is going to be so proud." She said with a wide smirk, before running away giggling from the angry red faced girl.

As the afternoon went on, Adelaide's mouth was etched into a perpetual grin. She got to catch up with all of her friends and learned that by some miracle James and Peter hadn't managed to miss a day with the Animagus incantation.

"Yeah... Sleeping Beauty over here almost slept through sunrise this morning.." Sirius smirked.

"Shut it before I sic that flock of birds on you again." Adelaide growled.

"I still don't understand why your parents let this mutt into your house.." Remus interjected.

"Oh. um... Well..." Adelaide then inconspicuously cast a muffling charm around them and recounted the creepy and weird events surrounding the strange Mr. Riddle.

"Merlin's beard Ads... I didn't know you could do occlumency... " Peter exclaimed.

"Wait... what was up with all that junk you saw in his head? Did he ever say anything about it?" Remus asked.

"No, I mean he never mentioned it at least..." she shrugged.

James chuckled. "Maybe he owns a thrift store or something."

"I dunno... Evan said he was pretty accomplished in school..." Adelaide refuted.

"ADELAIDE!" called the shrill voice of her mother.

She cringed, undoing the muffling charm. "Ehm... please excuse me boys."

"Adelaide! Hurry up!" Cathryn Fawley hissed, beckoning the girl towards the cake topped with thirteen glowing candles.

As the party went on, the weather outside seemed to become more and more ominous. Dark brooding clouds swirled over top the foaming waves of the sea below. Adelaide nearly jumped out of her skin as a loud CLAP of thunder rang through the home whilst she caught up with Regulus and Evan. The Marauders all shared knowing looks, dreading the fact that they did not have the Animagus potion on them.

Another rumble of thunder shook the small cottage, and then another, and another, finally signaling the end of the oh so lovely party.

"We'll see you at school Ads!" James said waving goodbye.

Adelaide grabbed as many of her marauder boys as she could reach and attempted to give them all a big group hug. "No no no! I refuse to let you go!" she said stubbornly as they chuckled.

"It's only a few more weeks Ads!" Remus said brightly.

"But I still have to hang out with _Dollie_ ," She said doing a spot on impression of her annoying breathy voice, "and whoever the other tosser is, and I can't even prank her!" she whined.

"Tell you what Ads, we will plan a special prank in your honor just for her when we get back. Sound good?" James said, pushing up his glasses with his lopsided smile.

When Adelaide and Sirius returned back to the cold and stony Fawley manor it was just before sunset.

"Erm... come on Ads! I didn't get to give you your present," Sirius said, dragging her away from the adults so they could do the incantation.

They clambered into the hallway outside their bedrooms, pulled out their wands and said, "Amato Animo Animato Animagustogether once more.

The two let out a breath of relief that they had said it in time and then proceeded to go into Adelaide's room. "I'm getting so sick of saying that- MERLINS PANTS!" she exclaimed as she opened the door to the most beautiful room she had ever beheld.

All the dark and dreary emerald had silver had been replaced with bright pastel purples and pinks and whites. Adelaide squealed, then ran and jumped upon the fluffy comforter, soon joined by her curly headed companion.

"I'd say you had a pretty good birthday Miss Adelaide." Sirius said with a grin.

"Yeah, it really has been good. Feels kind of weird doesn't it?"

"Hmm?"

Adelaide rolled over on her side to face him. "I mean... it's just weird right? That they would do all that for me?"

"Well, they gave you that gigantic garden for your 5th birthday... so it doesn't seem _that_ weird.."

"But they won't even let me owl anyone or read their letters! Why have everyone show up at the party?"

"I dunno Ads..."

"But didn't you tell my dad that I wanted to see my friends?"

Sirius ruffled the back of his hair nervously as he rolled onto his side as well. "Um yeah.. about that, I didn't really mean to! He caught me in the library when I was working on getting the books to charm the mini garden thing I made you a while back. He asked if I knew what you wanted and the words just sort of fell out of my mouth before I could stop them! You know how much he freaks me out sometimes..."

"Oh merlin, relax Padfoot!" She laughed. "I'm not mad! But I am curious as to where this mysterious gift is..." She said as Sirius smirked.

"I suppose you've waited long enough." he said with a lazy shrug, slowly walking out the room at a glacial pace.

"OH HURRY UP! I'M GOING TO BE 113 BEFORE YOU GET BACK AT THIS RATE!" she yelled, throwing Dorris at his head with dangerously precise accuracy.

"Ah! Yup you're definitely going to be a chaser.." he said, ducking and running out the room before she could throw something else at him.

Sirius returned with a box wrapped in crimson paper topped with a shiny golden bow, placing it gently on the lavender bedspread in front of the girl.

Adelaide opened the gift greedily with a grin only to find a brown leather handbag. At first she was a little disappointed, but then remembered Sirius's knack for giving her things that are more than they seem.

"No Addy, I can see that face your making, it's not just a handbag." he said with a smirk. "Try opening it up." he said. Adelaide opened the bag to see that it was indeed _much_ more than it appeared to be. "It's got an undetectable extension charm on it." he said proudly. "I figured it might come in handy with all the books you lug around."

That was mostly true... part of him also wanted her to have a way to make a quick get-away with all the essentials if need be.

"THIS IS SO COOL! THANK YOU!" She exclaimed throwing herself over to give him a big hug.

"Anything for you Addykins." he chuckled.

That night, after Sirius had returned to his own room, Adelaide slept peacefully in her newly decorated bedroom, for a while anyway. She awoke in the night to the sound of roaring thunder and the feeling of being shaken, a feeling that always made her feel rather nauseous.

"Addy! Addykins!! Wake up Ads!" Sirius hissed, jostling the girl with a grimace, knowing she hated it.

"Stooop.." She mumbled, trying to swat the boy away in her sleep.

Another loud _CRACK!_ of lightning made her jump and let out a small squeak as she clung on to the nearest thing to her, which just so happened to be Sirius's arm.

"Addy! The electrical storm! The seer was right! We have to do this now! We're going to be Animagi Ads!"


	44. Chapter 44

**Chapter 44- Scaredy Cat**

"Addy! The electrical storm! The seer was right! We have to do this now! We're going to be Animagi Ads!"

Adelaide quickly let go of the firm hold she had on Sirius's arm and bolted out of bed, running toward her closet.

"It's in here somewhere..." she said looking around frantically, shuddering every time another loud _CRACK_ or _BOOM_ of thunder rolled through. "Sirius! Go grab your potion and then practice casting the Patronus!"

Roughly five minutes later Adelaide finally found the box she charmed for the boys and herself, then ran back into her dark bedroom to find a silvery bright dog sitting upon her bed, staring at her with its tongue hanging out to the side.

"I've named it Snuffles." Sirius said proudly, pointing to the dog Patronus whose grin oddly matched his.

Adelaide let out a short laugh, despite the nerves that were now causing her hands to shake, and felt her self smile. "You got the potion?" she asked. Sirius held up the box and grinned even wider.

As the two made their way out to the garden where they would not be disturbed, the wind howled and the thunder clapped loudly, frightening Adelaide once again.

"Pads... I think we may have a slight problem..." she began as they finally hid beneath the cover of the gazebo. She squeaked again as the world around them was illuminated from the jagged electricity that burned through the sky, accompanied by the sounds of heavenly war.

"What? We have everything we need Ads! We've practiced this a thousand times!"

Adelaide felt the hairs on her arms prick up with the electricity in the air, and a second later a mighty _BOOM_ coincided with a blinding flash a little ways away from where they were. Adelaide screamed loudly in fright, hiding her face in her hands. "I-I don't like thunder Sirius. I-I don't know how I'm going to manage to d-do the Patronus out here."

"Addykins, it's just thunder! It can't hurt you! Especially not in here!"

He was right. The shield charm Adelaide cast over the gazebo earlier that week would protect them from being struck by lightning while under its protection.

"You know what, I don't even fancy cats all that much anyway..." she lied. "Let's just go inside now." she said trying to drag him back to the Manor.

"Addykins. Stop." Sirius said wrenching himself out of her grip, placing his hands firmly on either side of her arms to keep her from running off. "This isn't about cats. This is for Moony. I know you hate thunder Ads, but I need you to be brave right now. You need to be brave for Moony."

"B-but the Patronus!"

"Addy, stop overthinking it! You can do this!" He exclaimed. "Just... just think of me doing something horribly embarrassing." he said with a cheeky smile.

Adelaide closed her eyes for a long moment, then smirked slightly.

"Please don't tell me what memory you picked, alright?" Sirius joked.

Adelaide nodded. The two sat down on the floor, casting the spell to unleash the crystal vials, each containing one mouthful of the blood red potion.

"Okay. First we say the incantation, then cast the Patronus, and feel the 'beating of a second heart as the animal spirit connects with your soul'." She recited from memory. "Then we drink the potion... and well... then we have to try not to freak out."

"Yes! Yes I know! Let's get started!" Sirius said with a grin, bouncing in excitement.

Together the two recited the incantation for the last time, " _Amato Animo Animato Animagus,_ " touching the tip of their wands to their hearts.

Adelaide felt her heart beating a bit faster, hands shaking slightly still as she tried to tune out the clanging and clashing of lightning all around her. She focused instead on the memory of seeing Sirius completely terrified of the prospect of having a cat Patronus, smirking involuntarily.

" _EXPECTO PATRONUM_!" She bellowed, watching the luminescent figure of a fluffy cat play with 'Snuffles' the dog.

"See! I told you you could do it!" Sirius said with a big smile, causing the dog to glow just a bit brighter.

"Shhhh! Can... can you hear that?!"

"Hear what- MERLINS BEARDED DRAGON THAT'S WIERD!"

The two each listened as the sound of their hearts were joined by the thumping of another: of an animal.

 _thu-dump, thu-dump_

 _thu-dump, thu-dump,_ _thu-dump_ _thu-dump_

The beating became louder and louder, more and more intense. They could feel the violent thudding reverberating from somewhere deep within them. In the next moment, the two animals charged towards them.

Adelaide watched with wide eyes as the cat leaped towards her chest, dissolving as it made impact, leaving her slightly breathless. She turned to see 'Snuffles' jump toward Sirius, leaving him puffing for air.

"That was so weird..." he said in a breathy voice. "Well... bottoms up?" he said holding up the blood red potion.

"Wait. We... we need to move away, in case one of us attacks the other."

Sirius scooted to the opposite side of the Gazebo, careful not to jostle the liquid in his hands. "Cat Addy better not scratch me..." He grumbled under his breath.

"On three?"

Sirius nodded.

"One." Sirius said confidently.

"Two..."

"THREE!"

Adelaide brought the crystal vial to her lips and felt the bitter, salty liquid run down her throat. Then she felt pain. _Fiery pain._

Her screams in agony were muffled by the loud rumble of thunder that rolled through the garden air. Then she saw the vision of a bright white cat with forest green eyes in her mind, clearer than seeing it in a picture.

Then, she felt the horribly uncomfortable and frightening sensation of her bones rearranging, her hair... no... _fur_ growing at a rapid pace, her vision becoming more clear in the darkness that surrounded her.

She tried to calm down, she tried to catch her breath, but it was no use. she was freaking out.

 _"HISSSSS!"_

A bright white, and rather fluffy, Norwegian Forest Cat with forest green eyes ran to hide for safety under a bench of the gazebo. Its hair was standing up on end, and its ears were pulled back, ready to attack. Ready to attack the big black long-haired German Shepard currently jumping around wildly like some sort of bucking bronco.

 _'Stay away.'_ the cat (well Adelaide) thought, eyeing the shaggy beast with the deepest contempt.

The dog immediately went still, head bolting in her direction, sniffing the ground were the girl previously sat, and following the sent to the disgruntled feline.

" _HIISSSSSS! MRROOWWW! HISS HISSS!"_

The cat's needle point claws slashed through the canine's snout as it sniffed a bit too closely. The dog, well Sirius, whimpered running away with its tail between its legs.

Sirius suddenly remembered that he was _not_ a real dog, and instantly willed himself to turn back into his human form.

"GOOD GODRIC THAT WAS SO BLOODY COOL! ADDY! WASN'T THAT AWESOME?! Addy? Addykins!?"

Sirius searched around the gazebo to see that Tufts the cat was no longer hiding under the bench.

"Oh no. Oh no no no... Please don't be stuck up a tree..." Sirius said, looking around the surrounding area of the garden. He finally glanced upward to see a frightened cat cowering in a nearby willow. "Oh come _on_! _Really_?!"

The cat looked down to the dark haired boy and fleetingly thought about jumping on top of his head.

Sirius pulled out his wand, locking his eyes on his feline companion. " _Wingardium Leviosa!"_

" _HISSS! MROWWW HISS HISS!"_

The cat flailed around in the air as Sirius tried to lower it down from its lofty perch.

"Okay Addykins, time to turn back now..." He said nervously, as the cat ran back under the bench. "UGH! Come on Ads! Snap out of it!"

 _"Meow."_

"Ugh. Don't talk back to me!"

 _"MEOW!"_

"Addy! If you are in there, please for the love of merlin turn back now so I know you're okay!"

 _"Mew."_

The cat slowly crawled out from under the bench and rubbed against Sirius's pajama pants, leaving more than a few white cat hairs behind on the Gryffindor-crimson fabric.

 _"Purrrrrrrr"_

"You're just messing with me now..." Sirius said with a sigh of resignation, sitting down on the stony ground as the fluffy cat nuzzled against his slipper.

 _"Mew!"_ the cat chirped, looking up to the boys face, immediately noticing the bleeding wound it had inflicted in it's moment of animalistic fright.

"Oh my Merlin! I'm so sorry! Here! Let me fix it!" Adelaide said quickly, the moment she turned back into human form, looking frantically around for her wand.

"ADDY! You're back!" Sirius said with a big smile.

"Sit still!" Adelaide demanded, pointing her wand at his nose.

"ADS! What are you trying to do!?"

"I scratched your nose! You're bleeding!" She said desperately, "Please let me fix it!"

Sirius made a puzzled expression, reaching out a hand to touch his face, then looking to see the red blood upon his fingers. "AH! Fix it! Fix it Ads! Fix my beautiful face!"

Adelaide muttered a few words, wand drifting across the wound slowly and methodically, teeth biting into her bottom lip in concentration... something Sirius found rather adorable...

"There! Fixed!" She said, leaning back and sighing in relief. "Shouldn't leave a scar, but it might be a little pink for a few days."

"Thanks Ads,"

"It's the least I could do considering it was my fault!" She chuckled. "Sorry about all that by the way, I sort of lost myself..."

"Yeah, not going to lie, Tufts is sort of a git."

"Excuse me!? Who was it jumping around like an idiot?! Oh yes. PADFOOT!"

"I was _excited_! Can you blame me!? It's not my fault you're such a scaredy cat!" he smirked.

Adelaide scrunched up her face in aggravation and concentration, visualizing the fluffy cat in her mind, then felt the slightly less uncomfortable sensation of her skeleton shrinking and reordering itself.

She then proceeded to pounce onto Sirius's head, causing him to let out an extraordinarily high pitched shriek, then jumped off and turned back into her human form cackling.

"Who's the scaredy cat now Padfoot!?"

"I rescued you from a tree and this is how you repay me?! Ungrateful feline..." He griped.

Sirius watched as a mischievous twinkle flashed in Adelaide's eyes. "Ooo somethings brewing up there, isn't it?"

Adelaide smirked and nodded. "I was just wondering if Dollie liked cats..."


	45. Chapter 45

**Chapter 45- Pugface McGee**

"Oh you're here! Welcome! Welcome!" Cathryn Fawley exclaimed to the group of two adults and three children standing at the doorstep of the Fawley Manor, leading them in with a large smile.

"Cathy, we do apologize for not letting you know sooner about Delores..." Dahlia (Parkinson) Selwyn said in a low voice. "Cassius and I obviously had no idea of her mother's blood-status until Filip was able to look into it for us."

"Even the most cunning can be bested." Cathryn said with a sigh as Dahlia gave her a sympathetic look with her icy blue eyes.

"Yes, I heard of your own little intrusion..." Dahlia said, glancing over to the curly headed boy sitting beside Adelaide, and as far away as possible from the other three children. "But, knowing the Dark Lord, I am sure it was not in vain."

"Yes, yes that's what Filip keeps saying... But I don't like it Dahlia... I don't like it one bit. That boy is a bad influence on her... But enough of that! Let's catch up!" She said, leading her pug nosed friend into her own private parlor to drink wine and gossip, leaving the children and their husbands to fend for themselves.

"Ah! I believe the women have abandoned us mate." Cassius Selwyn chuckled.

"Nothing new there." Filip said with a tight smile.

Cassius let out a rumbling laugh, sweeping back his inky black hair. "Just like old times I suppose. Do you remember the time Dahlia nearly hexed you for having the audacity to ask Cathy to Hogsmead when they were going to have a 'girls day'?"

Filip nodded calmly at the memory, "I'm certain she would have if you hadn't asked her out next." he said with a smirk.

"And look at us now! A pair of lonely kings!" Cassius said with his arms outstretched wide, chuckling.

Adelaide and Sirius sat together on a marble white couch in the formal living room, glaring at the three teenagers on the couch across from them: Dollie Umbridge, and Rebecca and Robert Selwyn.

The twins, Rebecca and Robert, were a year ahead of the rest, about to begin their 4th year at Durmstrang. They shared a striking resemblance to one another, with the same pug like noses, judgmental icy blue eyes, and jet black hair.

"Do you two play quidditch?" Rebecca Selwyn asked in a bored tone, looking around the room.

"Yes." Adelaide answered. "Do you?"

"Yes."

Awkward silence.

"Do you have a house elf?" Robert asked, in an equally disinterested tone.

"Yes." Adelaide answered. "She is very kind."

Robert and Rebecca scoffed and Adelaide clenched her fists, willing herself to keep her cool.

"Does anyone fancy a game of hide and seek?" Sirius drawled languidly, falling into the pureblood way of speech, shocking Adelaide so much so in the process that she briefly glanced over toward him to make sure he hadn't gone insane. Sirius gave her a subtle wink, quelling her fears.

"I suppose that would be more enjoyable than actually having to converse..." Robert sneered. "Becca?"

"Very well... Seems a bit childish, but I suppose it's better than nothing." She said, still avoiding eye contact.

"hem hem." Everyone's common enemy smoothed her pink skirt, preparing to address her glaring contemporaries. "Will we be outdoors as well?" she asked in her breathy sickly sweet voice.

Sirius glanced over to Adelaide to see her smirking slightly.

"Yes." She drawled, winking to Sirius. "How about you start us off Dollie, Sirius and I, as well as Robert and Rebecca, will hide, and you can sniff us out." She said emotionlessly.

Dollie pursed her lips together, making her look even more toad like than usual, but eventually she conceded.

Sirius and Adelaide watched as the Selwyn twins ran toward the east wing of the manor, while they ran straight toward the garden. With any luck, they would have a completely plausible excuse as to why they were avoiding their guest's company for the remainder of the day.

"Ughh! Those pretentious pricks!" Sirius exclaimed, hopping onto Adelaides tree swing, much to her dismay. "Oh I'm sorry, did you want to sit here?" He asked sarcastically with a smirk.

"Yes! Now move you mutt!" she said, trying to shove him off, but only succeeding in pushing him to swing higher.

"No, no I think I'm rather fond of this spot!"

"You're insufferable." she scoffed.

"Why yes I am!" he said proudly, swinging higher. "So my sweet sweet Addykins, do you still want to try to prank Dollie with tufts?"

"Flattery will get you no where Pads, and yes. But I'm not really sure how to go about it..."

"I say you just piss on her bed or something." Sirius sneered.

"I was thinking something a little less disgusting..."

"Fine, go claw up her ankles then."

"Not a bad idea... But still... I dunno..."

The two conspiring Gryffindors eventually moved on to the bright field to practice their flying, which mostly consisted of Adelaide throwing quaffles in Sirius's direction as he whacked them away, leaving her to have to chase them down before they hit the ground. But, even this became tiring after a while and the two moved on to taking turns morphing into their animagus forms.

"Come out come out wherever you are!" A girlish voice called from around the corner, just as Adelaide morphed into Tufts. Sirius immediately moved in an effort to block the fluffy white cat from view. "Come out already! IT'S BEEN HOURS! You have to be here somew– There you are!"

Sirius chuckled awkwardly. "uuuhhumm... Yeah, you found me..."

"Is that a cat?" Dollie asked curiously, eyeing a bushy white tail poking out from behind Sirius's shoulder.

"A Cat?!" He chuckled even more awkwardly. This was not how they planned to prank her. Not by a long shot. In fact, they had all but given up on actually implementing the idea for fear of being found out and Adelaide being punished for causing mischief.

"Right there! Behind you!" She said in an annoyed tone, pointing her stubby fingers in Adelaide's direction.

Sirius turned sheepishly toward Tufts, giving her an apologetic smile. "Well what do you know... there _is_ a cat..."

"Oh I love cats!" Dollie cheered, running towards the two. Adelaide tried to run away, but Dollie was quicker, scooping her up into her grabby little arms. "Oh arn't you just the cutest! Yes you are!" She said in a baby talk voice, squishing Addy and giving her little kisses. Adelaide nearly coughed up a hair ball.

"Um... Maybe we should put her down... you know... in case she's rabid or something."

Adelaide glared at Sirius from within Dollie's clutches. He gave her a 'what-am-I-supposed-to-say' sort of look.

"We should name her!" Dollie gushed, aggressively snuggling with the cat, ignoring Sirius's suggestion entirely. "How about cuddles?" she said in a baby talk voice. Tufts growled. "Okay, not that one. How about Mittens?" Tufts growled again. "Ugh. Well you aren't a very nice kitty are you Pookie Poo." Adelaide growled louder.

"How about Fluffy?" Sirius said with a smirk.

"FLUFFY! I LOVE IT! Oh you are so clever Sirius!" She giggled in her high-pitched laugh, tapping him lightly on the arm. Tufts hissed. "Now now Fluffy! That is no way to behave." she scolded.

Sirius tried to hide his laugh as Adelaide was hopelessly and humiliatingly trapped in the arms of one of her least favorite people in the world, being called Fluffy. Ultimately though, his amusement could not be contained and he let out a bark of a laugh as Dollie aggressively cuddled the grumpy cat once again.

"Where's Adelaide?" Dollie asked looking around.

Sirius panicked, but didn't miss a beat. "Oh, yeah, she went up to her room I think."

"I checked her room! She wasn't there!"

"Well you must've just missed her." he said awkwardly, ruffling his hair as he looked at the bright white cat's forest green eyes glaring at him even more intensely since he laughed at her.

"I'm surprised she wasn't with you. You two are always together... She's like your long lost sister or something." Dollie said in a sickly sweet voice.

"We aren't always together." He said quickly.

"At school you are." Dollie tittered.

"I'm around her just as much as the other guys!" he defended. Why was he getting so worked up about this?

"Hmm... So she's just one of the guys?" Dollie asked, lips twisting into what Sirius figured was supposed to be a coy smile.

"Yeah, exactly." he agreed.

Adelaide's heart sank. She didn't even care if Dollie manhandled her anymore.

Dollie let out a girlish giggle glancing down at her watch, "Ah I think it's just about time for dinner... I'm afraid I'll have to leave you here Fluffy." She said sadly, giving her a big squeeze. "Now you be a good little kitty cat!"

Dollie placed the cat down on the ground at last and made her way out of the garden. "Aren't you coming?" She asked Sirius sweetly, batting her lashes, resembling a spastic toad.

Sirius glanced at the cat, who now refused to look at him. "Um y-yeah I guess so..." he said hesitantly, walking back to the manor, leaving Adelaide alone.

As soon as the two were out of sight, Adelaide, still in cat form, bolted up a tree near the perimeter of the garden, then hopped down the other side and toward the back of the house. She climbed another tree near the balcony of her room, leaping to the structure, then quickly transformed back into human form as she walked into the room to sulk on her bed.

 _POP!_

Adelaide looked up to see her sweet Mimsy looking at her with concerned electric blue eyes. "Is Miss Adelaide feeling ill?" she squeaked.

"Just tired is all Mimsy." she informed in a resigned tone.

Mimsy didn't look all that convinced. "Mimsy came to tells Miss Adelaide that Dinner is ready..."

Adelaide groaned rolling around dramatically to express her extreme displeasure in going downstairs, but did go down to dinner in the end.

"You two had Dollie searching for hours." Robert Selwyn smirked, whispering to Adelaide who was seated next to him.

Adelaide stabbed her chicken a little more forcefully than entirely necessary. "Yes, that was sort of our intention." she whispered stiffly back.

"You'll have to teach me your ways. We've been trying to get rid of her all summer. Can't even fly a broom to save her bloody life. A right bore she is." Robert complained.

Adelaide felt a little vindictive smile creep up. Nothing like a mutual enemy to bring people together. "Do you play Quidditch at Durmstrang?" She asked cordially, taking a bite of her chicken, completely missing the slightly annoyed look from Sirius down the table as he sat beside Dollie.

"I do! We both do actually!" he said with a smile. "Becca is more of a beater, but I prefer chaser."

"I play chaser too!" she said brightly. "Maybe we can have a match tomorrow?" she suggested.

Robert's cold and stony exterior melted at the thought. "That would be fun!" he exclaimed, earning an amused look from Cassius down the table.

"So, what's Durmstrang like?"

"Meh, it's school." he said with a noncommittal shrug. "Gets a bad rap because of the whole Grindelwald thing, but it's not so bad... bit cold in the castle though, they only light the fireplaces for magical purposes."

"Dear Merlin! That's barbaric!"

Robert chuckled at her reaction. "I suppose. So what's Hogwarts like? Is everyone like my annoying cousin, or are they cool like you?" He asked smoothly.

Adelaide felt her cheeks heat up a bit and Sirius glared at Robert from down the table. "I'd say they were somewhere in the middle." She replied coyly, "No one can be as cool as me." She joked.

"Touché Fawley! So what's with the body guard?"

"What?"

"Your body guard over there, Black."

Adelaide laughed. "He's my best friend. He um... He's staying here for the summer."

Robert leaned over to whisper, "Why does your mum look like she wants to hex him?"

Adelaide snorted a laugh, "Probably because she does." Robert made a perplexed expression. "They didn't really want him here... it was um... This guy Riddle's idea."

"Tom?"

"Huh? No. Mr. Riddle. Creepy bloke, red eyes–"

"Yeah, exactly. His name is Tom." Robert said easily, taking a big bite of his chicken. "Mum calls him a Lord or something sometimes though, some weird French name I think." He said with a shrug.

Adelaide eyed Robert curiously. "He was going to be my tutor earlier this summer, but apparently I lack respect and restraint." she scoffed.

"Merlin, you must really be special," Robert said, clearly impressed.

Her cheeks flushed slightly once more, "Oh... um... Thank you?"

"I mean, mum and dad have been trying to get him to take on me and Bec for two years now. Apparently we aren't up to snuff." he replied bitterly.

"Oh. So you've known him for a while now... what all do you know about him?" she asked casually, masking the burning curiosity within her.

"I know he went to Hogwarts a while back, apparently both our parents were in some club with him: 'The Knights of Walpurgis'–" Adelaide lifted an eyebrow at the strange name. "Yeah, I know. Weird name right?" He said with a chuckle. "Dad always loves talking about the glory days. I think Tom was the president of the club or something."

"What does Tom do? I always pictured him as a thrift shop owner for some reason." Adelaide said with a deliberate giggle.

"I... I don't know exactly... I think he just tutors full time. I know he wanted to be a teacher a while back."

"Interesting... what did he want to teach?"

"Defense against the dark arts, I think... So, do you have a favorite Quidditch team?" he asked, changing the subject to something more interesting in his good opinion.

* * *

That evening, as Adelaide brushed her teeth and got ready for bed, she heard the secret knock on the door announcing Sirius's unexpected arrival. She furrowed her brows together. She didn't particularly fancy speaking with him since he called her 'one of the guys', even if it was just to Dollie. Maybe if she ignored him he would go away?

 _Knock knock... knock... knock knock knock_

Apparently not.

The door opened slowly and Sirius walked in with a hand over his eyes. "Addykins, you decent?"

"Uggghhhh yes." she answered in an annoyed tone, still brushing her teeth.

"Ads. What the hell was up with you and Pugface McGee chatting it up at dinner?!"

Adelaide pulled out the toothbrush, and just stared at him incredulously, marveling at his idiocy.

"We were having a conversation?"

"Seemed a lot more like flirting..." he grumbled under his breath.

"Why would it matter to you if it was?!"

"Because he's a sketchy little shit." he spat.

"I was only talking to him to get information about Riddle, who's name is Tom apparently, and who definitely does not own a thrift store." she spat back.

"Oh. But I heard you invite him to play Quidditch! That's _our_ thing Ads!"

"I invited him because I wanted to! And it's not just _our_ thing!" She snapped, noting the slight hurt on Sirius's face. "I thought you'd enjoy beating him and his pretentious sister..."

"Oh..."

"Can I finish brushing my teeth now?" She asked huffily, waving the foaming toothbrush around in an annoyed fashion.

Sirius smirked, then made himself comfortable on her bed. "Please do!"

Adelaide eyed him suspiciously, then went back to the bathroom connected to the room where she was getting ready.

She came back to the room to see a big hairy black dog curled up next to her pillow.

"Oh come on!" She said flopping next to the dog, trying to push him off. "Ugh! You stupid fat hound! Get off my bed!"

The dog whined, looking up at her with big puppy dog gray eyes.

"Stop being so cute!" She complained. The puppy dog eyes intensified. "Knock it off!"

The dog whined, then rested its head on her lap, still looking up at her, insufferably adorable.

"FINE! You can stay for a little while, but for the love of merlin, move over."


	46. Chapter 46

**Chapter 46- Diagon Alley**

Adelaide woke up around sun-up, an unfortunate habit from the months of chanting, and rolled over to see a big hairy dog sprawled out on the opposite side of the big bed for the fourth time that week. She smirked, then scratched the sleeping dogs belly in _just the right spot_ and tried to keep her self from laughing when the dogs left foot started going wild.

"Wakey wakey Snuffles!" she sang.

The dog abruptly stopped scratching and flipped over... falling off the bed. Adelaide howled in laughter.

Up popped up a very grumpy Sirius Black, hair awry. "Do you have to do that every time!?" he asked with his hands on his hips, up to his nose with sass.

"Yes. I find it is a lovely way to start my day." she said, trying to keep a straight face.

Sirius humphed, then left the room dramatically with his nose in the air, listening to Adelaide giggle behind him.

The rest of the Selwyn's stay turned out to be much more enjoyable than anyone would have guessed. Adelaide and Sirius found that as long as they were playing Quidditch, they didn't have to listen to the twins talk, and vis versa (though, Robert didn't actually mind talking to Adelaide). Adelaide and Robert played as Chaser, Sirius and Rebecca played as keeper, and Dollie was the single seeker, and the one who would end the game. The other four knew for a fact that she would never actually be able to catch the snitch, but that it would keep her out of the way for the most part and insure the game went on for as long as possible.

When the Selwyn's, plus Dollie, finally left, Adelaide felt much more confident in her chaser abilities, seeing as she scored nearly twice as many points over all as Robert.

This particular morning was the first since the Selwyn's departure, and the beginning of the last week of summer.

Adelaide was getting ready for the highly anticipated day ahead of her, the day she would get to go to Diagon Alley to buy her school supplies for the year. It was always her favorite part of going back to school, partially because she inherited Cathryn Fawley's somewhat unhealthy love of shopping, but also because it was the only time she really got to leave the manor over the summer.

 _knock knock... knock... knock knock knock_

"I'm decent!"

"Hey Ads- woah! I didn't know you owned any clothes that weren't purple." He smirked, referring to the black jumper she was currently wearing. Adelaide casually grabbed Dorris and threw her at his head, then continued to lace up her shoes. "Rude much?! I was going to say I liked the black!" he exclaimed, hiding his 'beautiful face' from being hit by another flying object.

"Oh." She moved her hair over her face to hide her slight blush. "Well thank you. I thought I might switch things up." She shrugged.

Sirius plopped himself onto her bed. "I swear I sleep better in your bed than I do in mine..." he said with a disgruntled expression.

"Maybe it's just because you're Padfoot."

"Nah, I think it might be because of you." he said off-handedly.

Adelaide blinked. "Um... I think we better head down for breakfast, yeah?"

"Meh, yeah sure." he said lazily.

After their breakfast of oatmeal and fresh fruit, Mr. and Mrs. Fawley apperated the group to the bustling row of Wizarding shops.

"Mum! Can we go look at the quidditch supplies?!" Adelaide asked eagerly, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

Cathryn's eyes softened for a split second. "Yes, but first you need to get your new school robes."

"Addy, have you even grown at all since last year?" Sirius asked, trying very hard to push her buttons and annoy her.

Adelaide scrunched up her nose in frustration. "Yes. I have, thank you very much."

"But you're still so short..."

"Oh shut it won't you!" she snapped.

Sirius smirked. Mission accomplished.

"Adelaide, your father and I have some business to attend to, but will be back to collect you after lunch... We are trusting you to handle the shopping on your own... Do you think you can manage?"

Adelaide nodded with a big smile. "Yes ma'am."

Cathryn gave her grey eyed companion a critical look, then sighed handing the girl a large jingling bag of coins. "This should be enough for the both of you to purchase everything you need as well as lunch ... plus a bit more in case you want some new gear for quidditch and extra books or something."

Adelaide handled the large clinking bag with the utmost care, placing it in the brown handbag Sirius had given her. Cathryn momentarily wondered how she fit the coins into the small satchel, but was pulled away from her thoughts as Filip tapped her on the shoulder asking if she was ready to head to the meeting.

"We will meet you both at the leaky cauldron at 1pm sharp. Don't be late." He said firmly. "And no consorting with any Mudbloods while your out... do you understand?" he added in a low voice.

Adelaides eyes grew wide and her heart thumped a bit heavier. "Yes, sir."

And with that, the two parents disapperated with a loud CRACK, leaving the two teenagers to wander the streets on their own.

Sirius took this opportunity to pull Adelaide's hair when she wasn't looking, then acted as if nothing happened when she scowled at him.

"Why do you have to be such a pest all the time?!" she asked frustratedly, heading to _Twilfitt and Tatting's_ to get their new robes.

"I have no clue what you are talking about my dear Adelaide." Sirius said with a smug expression, holding the door open for her to walk into the fancy shop.

The woman inside wearing very stylish black and silver robes measured and fitted them with the highest quality uniforms available... a bit of a waste of money if you asked Sirius. Never the less, they did as they were instructed and paid the extraordinary pricey bill for the clothes.

Once outside, Adelaide sneakily hid behind Sirius and stuck the parcels into the charmed handbag. "This thing is so handy..." she commented.

"Well... it is a _hand_ bag." Sirius replied.

Adelaide shook her head in disappointment. "Terrible. Terrible pun. You're better than that."

The two prattled away for the next few stops. First they strolled over to _Slug Jiggers Apothecary_ , to get some new potions supplies. Next, they visited _Scribbulus Writing Implements_ , to buy some new parchment, quills, and ink (Sirius complained the whole time because they didn't carry his favorite type of quill... and Adelaide called him a spoiled poodle). After that, they made a very important stop at _Gambol and Japes Wizarding Joke Shop_ , stocking up on some of the essentials (dung-bombs, Dr Filibuster's Fabulous Wet-Start, No-Heat Fireworks, nose-biting tea cups, etc.).

As the two made their way back towards _Flourish Blotts_ to buy their school books, Sirius became quite frustrated with Adelaide's slow pace. "Ads, come on! We need to get there before the afternoon rush... Ads?" Sirius turned around as saw Adelaide eyeing a certain store: _Madam Primpernelle's Beautifying Potions._ "Ads, come on."

"I-I just wanted to look around..." she said shyly.

"Addy. You don't need that stuff." he said sternly.

"I know, I know. I need to save some of the money for quidditch stuff..." she said, looking rather disappointed, walking off ahead of him toward the book shop.

Sirius gave her a puzzled look as she walked away, then jogged to catch up with her. "Addy, we can go in there if you really want to. I just didn't think you needed the stuff they sell. You look pretty the way you are." he clarified. He thought this was obvious.

Adelaide blinked. "Um..." is all she said before turning on her heel and walking decidedly toward the book shop, hoping that her blush would die down before Sirius caught up to her. Once in the shop she was overwhelmed by the rows and rows of books scattered about the messy and wonderful shop. She pulled out the list of books from her pocket and began to search the store for the titles needed, but soon ran into a familiar face.

"Addy!" said a tall boy with dark, perfectly combed curly hair and grey eyes, moving in for a hug. Adelaide didn't recognize the smiling boy for a split second, but then hugged him fiercely.

"Reggie! You're so tall! Taller than you were a few weeks ago!" she laughed, looking up to the 12 (nearly 13) year old standing beside her.

"Yeah..." he said with a awkward smile, scratching the back of his neck, a habit she suspected he picked up from Evan.

"Addy! Where are you?" called the tall boys brother, looking around the shop hopelessly, like a child who lost a parent in a crowd.

"Pads! I'm over here!" she waved excitedly.

Regulus looked uncomfortable. "You go ahead and catch up with him, I was just leaving anyway.. It was good seeing you again Addy." he ended with a sweet smile, waving as he made his way out the shop.

"There you are! Was that Reg?" Sirius asked curiously.

"Yeah, he saw you and just bailed..." she said disappointedly.

Sirius pursed his lips and made a disapproving look worthy of Cathryn Fawley's face. "Well that was a bit rude of him..." he commented quietly. "Come on, I saw some charms books back there that I don't think you've read before." he said, trying to distract them both from missing Regulus.

"Why are there three books for Defense against the dark arts?" Adelaide questioned after picking out a new charms book.

"I dunno, looks like they're all by the same guy too, 'Eckhart Edelmar'. Maybe the new professor is a big fan of his or something?" Sirius guessed.

"Meh, maybe. I sure hope they aren't as creepy as Gallagher..."

"Impossible. Gallagher's the literal definition of creepy." Sirius stated casually.

About half an hour later, the two Gryffindors left the shop with more books than strictly needed, but feeling fairly accomplished. They next stopped by _Sugarplum's Sweet Shop_ to stock up on sweets. Adelaide made sure to grab some extra chocolate frogs for Remus as a way of paying him back for all the sweets she stole from him the year before. Then, they finally made it to the shop they had been waiting to visit for _ages: Quality Quidditch Supplies._

"Have you ever seen anything so beautiful?" Adelaide asked Sirius, looking around the shop, wiping away a pretend tear.

"Everyday." he replied.

Adelaide looked at him with an annoyed expression, putting her hands on her hips. "Looking at your reflection doesn't count." She said sternly.

Sirius smirked. "I was talking about you."

Adelaide turned bright red. "Stop being such a flirt." she snapped, going to look at the gloves display, muttering curses under her breath as he chuckled behind her.

"Addy?! ADDY!" bellowed a bespectacled boy running toward her at full speed.

"Put me down! Put me down Put me down!" she exclaimed with a laugh as James Potter scooped her up in a massive hug and spun her around.

"Nope! I think I'll just take you with me." he said with a grin, hoisting her over his shoulder and proceeding to peruse the Quaffles.

"Ugh! Padfoot! Come save me!" she cried out.

"I suppose I could... But I am a little jealous that James spun you around in a hug before me..." he said with a smirk.

James then proceeded to carry Adelaide around the store against her will for at least ten minutes, before _finally_ letting her down.

"Aw, it's too bad you two aren't going to be here later. Mary's coming to get her school stuff this afternoon after lunch." James informed them.

A heavy wave of disappointment washed over Adelaide. Only one more week... then she would see her best friend every day.

"Speaking of lunch, we should probably pay and head out or we won't have enough time before your parents come Ads." Sirius told them.

"WAIT. James. We have something to tell you..." Adelaide said sneakily, pulling the two lanky boys toward an unoccupied corner of the store, and casting the muffling charm around them.

Sirius looked highly confused. "What exactly do we have to tell him?"

Adelaide looked at him as if he was the daftest person on the planet. "James. We did it. We did the transformation. There was a big electrical storm at my house the night of my birthday."

"Oh yeah." Sirius said, looking a bit embarrassed.

"GOOD MERLIN THAT'S AWESOME! You'll have to tell me and wormy about it on the train. We still haven't been able to do it... stupid weather."

After some more chit chatting, Adelaide and Sirius went up to the counter to pay for their broom servicing kits and Adelaide's new chaser's gloves.

"Ah, chaser's gloves? You're a bit small for all that. Wouldn't you rather get some gear for seeker?" the man at the register said, eyeing the short girl critically.

Adelaide's face turned cold and impassive. Sirius knew that was a touchy subject with her and that she was trying to hide her hurt out of respect for the shopkeeper.

"She's a bloody good chaser." Sirius said coldly. "Now, would you please hurry up? We have somewhere to be."

The shopkeeper looked taken aback, "I only meant that she might have a better chance of making a team if she were to play seeker..."

"I know bloody well what you mean. But you have no idea what you are talking about, now either ring up our things, or we will have to get them from somewhere else." he snapped.

They were out of there within two minutes.

The two walked in silence toward the leaky cauldron for lunch, both feeling an unspoken tension.

"Thanks for having my back in there Pads." Adelaide said softly.

"Anything for you Addykins." he said with a smile.

The two ordered their food and sat together at a booth in the corner of the pub, neither speaking as both felt a little on edge after the incident in the shop.

Sirius was the first to break the silence.

"Ads, didn't you say there were four pompous prats that you had to meet with?" he asked, realizing it was only a week until school and that there had still been no mention of the last suitor.

"Oh. I thought I told you?" She knew quite well that she hadn't.

"Told me what?" he asked, slightly annoyed.

"Um... well..." Adelaide hesitated, making the hilariously expressive face she always made when she was trying to figure out how to word something important. "Well Dad talked to me the other night after dinner, the one after we demolished the twins 450 to 200," Sirius nodded in remembrance, smirking slightly. "He said that um... the fourth one was someone they already knew... someone _I_ already knew... He said that they didn't really see a point in having them come over since they already knew everything they needed to."

"What?! Did he tell you who it was?!"

"Erm... yeah..."

"Well, out with it, is it Carrow or something?"

"Ew! No! Carrow's my first cousin! Gross!!" she said completely disgusted.

"Okay. Ew. Didn't know that." he said with a shiver. "Well who is it then?"

Adelaide looked nervously around the room, gnawing on her lip, looking for way to stall, but none was to be found. "Um... well I just know the family."

"Okay... _and?_ Who is it?" Sirius asked, impatiently waving his hands around. "Come on Ads, it can't be _that_ bad."

Adelaide gulped. Then took a deep shaky breath. "It is. Can we just not talk about it?" she asked.

"NO! Addy! Come on! We tell each other everything. Do you not trust me?" he asked, a faint glint of hurt flashing in his steely grey eyes.

"I do trust you! It's just..." She buried her face in her hands. "Ugh. I can't. I just can't."

She couldn't tell him that the family was _his_.


	47. Chapter 47-Year 3

**Chapter 47- The Third September 1st**

"Tell me."

"No."

"Addykins. Please!"

"Not happening Sirius."

"Have I mentioned how pretty you look today?"

Adelaide blushed profusely. "Still not telling."

Sirius sighed dramatically, slumping down in his seat within the train compartment. "Why do you torture me so?!"

"They probably won't even pick him anyway. They're best mates with Rob's parents..." She shrugged, looking out the window for sign of the other Marauders.

" _Rob?"_ Sirius repeated raising an eyebrow. "You and Pugface McGee have nicknames now? What does he call you, _Addy-boo_?"

"Oh give it a rest! I've told you a thousand times. I was _not_ flirting with him."

"Oh you definitely were." Sirius smirked.

"Would you shut up and please help me look for the others?" She snipped. It was at times like these that she wondered how she still fancied that mongrel.

Since Adelaide's refusal to tell Sirius who the next suitor was, he had taken up the noble task of pestering her even more than usual in an effort to exact the family whom she may be marrying into. Filip Fawley immediately noticed his incessant questioning and was privately amused by his daughters fortitude. He fully expected her to tell Sirius that it was his family right away. But instead, she became more resolute in _not_ telling Sirius as the days went by, to the point that Filip was unsure if she really didn't want to tell him, or if she just enjoyed watching him beg for information.

It was both.

"No, they'll find us eventually." Sirius said waving around his hand dismissively. "Addy please tell me! I can't prank him and call him a prat if I don't know who it is!"

Adelaide smirked. "I told you I don't know who it was. I only know the family."

"Wait. Addy... are you saying it could be more than one person?"

Adelaide made a look of deep frustration. "I mean... _technically_."

"So it's brothers... Okay, well that narrows things down a bit." He said happily.

"Hey Addy!" Said a tall boy with blue-green eyes and sun-tanned skin, waving from the door of the compartment, flashing a dazzling smile.

"Evan!" Adelaide exclaimed with a grin, running to give her 'friendly enemy' a large embrace.

"Ooof. I always forget how strong your hugs are." He chuckled.

"Oops." She said flashing a sheepish smile. "I've been training to try out for Quidditch... I think my hugs have gotten a bit more forceful..."

"Wait, you're trying out for Quidditch?! That's awesome! What position?"

"Chaser." She said a bit shyly.

"I bet you'll be great! I'm sure Mary will be _thrilled!"_ He chuckled. "Erm... you haven't happened to see her, have you?"

"She's sitting with Evans and McKinnon a little further down." Sirius interjected coldly, trying to get Addy's sketchy slytherin friend to leave.

"Oh. Well thanks mate." Evan said awkwardly. "Um, I'll see you around Ads!" Evan said leaving with an awkward wave.

Adelaide waved back and sat back down across from her curly headed friend. "Why do you have to be so rude to him?" she asked honestly, forest green eyes clouded with confusion. She always thought Evan and Sirius would be great friends if they got over the fact that they hated each other.

"I don't trust him." Sirius said childishly, folding his arms over his chest and pouting slightly.

"I think you'd get along great if you actually got to know him." she said gently. Sirius scowled, but didn't answer.

Adelaide sat with sulky Sirius for a few more minutes, and was relieved to see the little group of boys fighting to get through the compartment door.

"Move it Moony! I'm sitting next to Pads!" James grumbled as Remus smirked, blocking his way.

"Oh come on! I just want to sit and eat my damn fudge flies in peace!" Peter hollered from behind, barely visible behind the other two lanky boys.

"Oh fine. I suppose I'll just _have_ to sit next to Tufts." Remus sighed dramatically, sending her a wink.

"Well then sit already! I need to hug my favorite mutt!" James griped, trying to push him towards her.

Remus finally sat down beside Adelaide, and felt a little fluttering in his stomach for some odd reason. He figured he was just excited they were headed off to school.

"Remmy!" Adelaide cheered giving him a big hug from where she was sitting beside him. "Oh! I got you something!" She said suddenly, moving to grab something out of a little brown handbag, reaching much further than should technically be possible. "These," She said dropping a pile of chocolate frogs into his hands, some spilling over and falling into his lap, "are for you." She said with a satisfied smile.

"W-what? Why?" Remus asked, baffled, face turning a light shade of pink.

"I stole a bunch of yours last year... I wanted to make it up to you..." she said shyly.

"Addy, you don't have to—" he started.

"No. I did have to. You're a good friend and I took advantage of that... plus I still feel bad about breaking your arm." She added with an awkward laugh.

Remus rolled his eyes. "Consider yourself forgiven then. Thank you Addy." He said, smiling at her a little longer than Sirius was entirely comfortable with.

"So! We have some news to share!" Sirius began loudly, clapping his hands together importantly, gaining the attention of everyone in the compartment. "James already knows... but Addykins and I have finally achieved the impossible!"

"Is this about you finishing the transformation into poodle?" Remus asked, raising an eyebrow as Adelaide sniggered beside him.

Sirius shot him a dirty look. "I'm not a poodle!"

"Ah, my apologies. A Chihuahua then."

James and Peter joined Adelaide in uproarious laughter while sassy Sirius bickered with sassy Remus for a long while.

"Hey Ads... you didn't have to see that Riddle guy again did you?" James asked with concern. Despite his jokes on the matter, he had been quite worried about the whole creepy mind-reader situation.

"No! Thank Merlin... but I did find out some more stuff about him..." Adelaide then began to recount the information she'd gleaned from Robert Selwyn.

"Tom Riddle... why does that sound so familiar?" Peter asked, brows furrowed in concentration, throwing a couple of fudge flies in his mouth, looking hard at nothing in particular.

"I dunno... but there's bound to be information about him at the school if he was the president of a a club." Remus added thoughtfully. Ever since Adelaide told them all about the strange items she saw when accidentally breaking into that creeps mind, he'd been racking his brain to figure out how all those strange objects fit together. Why were they so important?

"Well since we've exhausted all of our current plots to break wizarding law, I suppose we could do a bit of research on the bloke." James shrugged. Secretly wanting to know more so as to protect Adelaide.

"Sounds like a plan." She agreed.

For the rest of the train ride, the group fell straight back into their old dynamic, as if no time had passed at all. But of course, there were some differences, one being that all four boys now had low 'man voices' and towered over Adelaide more than ever.

Once off the train the group made their way through the rain to the carriages. Adelaide tried to spot the other Gryffindor girls, but it seemed that they had left without her.

"Well we could just squeeze her in right?" Peter asked, not wanting to leave her out.

Adelaide gave him a thankful smile. "That's alright Wormy. I'll just um. Make new friends or something." She shrugged.

"Here I'll go with you, that way you're not all by yourself." Remus said, cutting off Sirius as he opened his mouth to say the same.

"Really?! Thanks Moons!" She said happily. "You okay Pads? You look like you spotted Snivellus or something." She said looking around for the greasy haired snake.

His face morphed into a smile that Adelaide noticed didn't quite reach his eyes. "I'm fine. You two better hurry up. I'll save you a seat Ads."

"Oh okay!" She said, not completely convinced.

Adelaide and Remus made their way to a carriage with a boy and girl in hufflepuff robes who looked to be around their year. "Do you mind if we sit with you?" Adelaide asked politely.

The boys smiled wide, "Not at all! Come right in!"

Remus and Adelaide clambered into the carriage, thanking their lucky stars that they had come across friendly faces. "I'm Edgar Bones and this is my sister Amelia." the Hufflepuff boy said, pointing to the girl with long straight strawberry-blonde hair (the exact same color as her brothers), smiling warmly beside him.

"Nice to meet you! I'm Adelaide Fawley, and this is my best friend Remus Lupin." She said with a wide smile.

The happy looks on the two Hufflepuffs faces melted away, leaving them with blank expressions.

"Umm... Fawley? Your the one that's friends with all the Slytherins right?" Amelia asked tentatively.

"Well... it's really more like two Slytherins..." she replied with a nervous chuckle.

The two didn't look all that convinced.

"I know there's a lot of rumors about me... but their not true." she said in a soft voice, fiddling with her hands. Remus wanted very much to stick up for her, but wasn't sure what to say without escalating the situation. "One of my best friends is muggle-born and I hate the dark arts." she added, sensing their lack of conviction.

"I'm sorry... I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions." Amelia said genuinely.

"Yeah... Besides, you're nothing like how people describe you!" Edgar chuckled.

Adelaide rolled her eyes. "They think I'm some snooty blood purity tosser don't they?"

Edgar shrugged. "More or less."

This little faux pas seemed to break the ice, leading the four of them to chat the whole way up to the castle. Adelaide and Remus learned that Amelia was a third year, same as them, and loved Herbology, while Edgar was a fourth year and very fond of quidditch, where he played as the Hufflepuff Keeper.

When Adelaide returned to the Castle she quickly made her way to sit beside Sirius, waving goodbye to her new a Hufflepuff friends. "New friends?" he asked with a smirk, remembering this day last year when she finally plucked up the courage to talk to the girls she lived with.

"Yes!" she replied with a grin. "I hope you didn't cry to much while I was away..." she smirked.

Sirius let out a bark like laugh. "I sobbed a tad in then beginning, but Prongs cheered me up in the end." He joked.

After the sorting and filling their bellies so full that they thought they would burst, Adelaide and the other Marauders left the feast and made their way to Gryffindor Tower.

They were climbing up the never ending staircase when Adelaide heard a giggling group of whispering second years prattle on about how dreamy some guy was. She silently rolled her eyes, figuring they were talking about the handsome Quidditch Captain and Prefect, Blake Wood.

"Addykins... you're so slow!" Sirius complained, turning toward his blonde friend. "Come on!"

"I'm trying Sirius! There's just So. MANY. STAIRS!" She said dramatically slumping against the railing.

Sirius smiled and rolled his eyes at her theatrical laziness. "Come on, hop on up, love." he said gesturing for her to climb onto his back.

She grinned then bounced on up immediately. "Onward and upward dear Padfoot!" She said pointing ahead, not noticing the glares she received from the whispering second years.


	48. Chapter 48

**Chapter 48- More Than Meets the Eye**

It was the morning of the first day of classes. Adelaide woke up bright and early (thanks to Lily beating her half to death with a pillow) and ready to take on the day. She scampered down to the great hall with the girls before sitting down with the boys beside Peter, and across from the other three.

At first, she was too enamored with her oatmeal and morning moodiness to really notice anything beyond the fact that she had forgotten her wand upstairs. Her eyes scanned the room where she saw Professor McGonagall handing out the timetables, then moved her gaze to the boys in front of her, whom she noticed held a mischievous glint directed toward her.

She narrowed her eyes and pointed her oatmeal spoon at them (flinging some onto Peter and Remus). "What are you lot up to?" She asked, voiced thick with suspicion.

"Nothing at all Addykins." Sirius replied innocently.

"But, might I say, you look radiant this morning Miss Fawley." James commented.

Adelaide felt a slight blush bloom across her cheeks. "Shouldn't you be saying that to Lily?"

He shrugged, "I already did."

"Addy your hair looks nice today." Remus added, still trying to wipe off the oatmeal on his robes.

Adelaide blushed again. "Thanks." she said softly, running her hand through her perfectly normal pale blonde hair... until she realized Sirius and James were trying to keep from laughing. "What the hell are you up to?!"

"Nothing love. Just marveling at your beauty." Sirius said smoothly.

Adelaide felt butterflies flutter in her stomach and then cursed herself for blushing bright red. "Shut it."

"See! I told you! Every time!" Sirius declared.

"What are you talking about?!" She exclaimed, this time flinging oatmeal onto Sirius and James.

"Sirius discovered that you blush every time someone complements you." Peter informed her quietly.

Adelaide was now red with anger, eyes narrowed into slits finger pointed ominously toward the group of boys (minus Peter).

"Uhhh... Padfoot... I don't think we thought this one through mate..." James said nervously.

" _Avis_."

"AHH! GET THEM OFF! GET THEM OFF!" James squealed, trying to whack away the pecking birds with a rolled up newspaper.

"ADDYKINS! MY HAIR! DON'T LET THE WINGED VERMIN RUIN MY HAIR." Sirius screeched, grabbing the plate from the first year sitting beside him, flinging scrambled eggs in the air, then using it as a shield to protect his gorgeous locks from said 'winged vermin.'

"ADDY! WHY ARE THEY ATTACKING ME TOO?! I ACTUALLY MEANT MY COMPLEMENT!" Remus bellowed, smacking the little birds with his Arithmancy book, yellow plumage flying around like leaves in fall.

"HEY! I MEANT WHAT I SAID TOO!" Sirius cried out incredulously.

Adelaide's blush was mistaken as further fury.

"What in the name of Merlin is going on over here!" Said an exceptionally exasperated woman with a thick Scottish accent, hair pulled into a tight bun, and lips pressed into thin line.

"WE WERE PRATS TO ADDY SO SHE CHARMED THE BIRDS TO ATTACK US WITH HER STUPID FINGER!" James yelped, whacking away a bird into Sirius's hair.

Professor McGonnagall looked to Adelaide with a mix of horror and awe. "Miss Fawley! Explain yourself!" She demanded, letting the birds continue their attack on the boys.

"They were giving me complements to make me blush so I um... I used wandless magic to sic the birds on them." She mumbled guiltily.

McGonagall gave a hard look at the girl and decided she was telling the truth.

"MINNIE! PLEASE HELP US!" Sirius begged, looking horrified as a bird pulled a lock of curly hair.

McGonagall looked over to him, as if she just remembered he and the others were still there, and wordlessly waved her wand causing the birds to dissolve.

"Miss Fawley. What spell did you use?" She asked the girl curiously.

"Avis." she said softly. "The um... bird conjuring charm." She was used to getting in trouble for pranks, but McGonagall always made her feel a little uneasy, even if her class was one of her favorites.

"That's highly advanced Transfiguration Miss Fawley! N.E.W.T. level! However did you manage that?!"

Adelaide shrugged her shoulders. "I um. I read the text book."

"You read the _sixth year transfiguration text book_ over the summer?!" The woman asked incredulously.

"Actually she read the _seventh_ year book over the summer, she finished the _sixth_ year book the week after exams." Sirius clarified, trying to fix his hair using the wonky reflection of the metal plate he stole. Adelaide gave a sheepish smile, fiddling with her fingers.

Professor McGonagall was utterly flabbergasted. " _And_ you used wandless magic?!"

"Um... yes. You see, I left my wand upstairs... I was going to get it after we got our timetables." she explained, not wanting the professor to think she was going to class unprepared.

Professor McGonagall blinked. "I cannot condone your using spells outside of class, and especially not on other students... no matter how deserved it may be..." she said sending a knowing look to the boys. "Five points from Gryffindor," The boys and some nearby Gryffindors all moaned in disappointment. "But I cannot deny that the magic you used was highly advanced... and rather enjoyable—"

"Excuse me?! Who's side are you on Minnie?!" Sirius interrupted. Adelaide swore she saw a hint of a smile on the stern woman's face.

"—30 points to Gryffindor." She said calmly. Adelaide's jaw hit the floor in astonishment. "Now, here are your timetables... And Miss Fawley, be sure to fetch your wand before class." She added with a stern look to the bewildered girl.

"I-I will! Thank you Professor!"

The Marauders all watched Minnie leave in silence.

"What the hell?" James said slowly. "Did she really just get 25 points for attacking us with those stupid birds?"

"I believe she did." Remus answered back in shock.

"Addy! That was brilliant!" Sirius exclaimed genuinely, reaching to give her a high-five, and smirking when he saw her blush faintly.

Adelaide cleared her throat. "Um so my first lesson is Ancient Runes, is anyone else going that way?"

"That's mine and Moony's first class too!" James said happily.

Adelaide looked over to Sirius. "What about you Pads?" She asked with a smile.

"Wormy and I are taking Divination..." he said somewhat disappointedly.

"Oh. Well at least we have Defense Against the Dark Arts together after, and then... I have... erm..." she squinted at the timetable. "Arithmancy."

"Arithmancy?! Addy why didn't you pick muggle studies like us?" James complained, referring to him, Sirius, and Peter.

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Have you met her parents?"

"Oh yeah..."

Adelaide looked a little uncomfortable. "Anyways, after lunch we have Transfiguration and History of Magic together."

James and Peter both made groans of exasperation for the annoyingly long day ahead.

"Hey Ads! Do you want me to go with you to grab your wand?" Sirius asked brightly.

Remus watched Adelaide's face light up as she nodded and felt a little sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach for some odd reason.

After Adelaide had successfully fetched her wand, she made her way to Ancient Runes. She found the class fascinating, given the subject matter, as well as entertaining considering the fact that Severus Snape was in the class as well. James and Adelaide took turns jinxing their nemesis to sneeze at awkward times.

Next, the group made the trek down to Defense Against the Dark Arts where they would finally meet the new Professor. Turns out Adelaide and Sirius weren't the only ones that thought Professor Gallagher was creepy... The Board of Governors received many complaints from angry parents saying that the former Auror all but accused their children of being Junior Death Eaters, and called for his resignation.

"This is the guy who's the big Edelmar fan, right?" Sirius asked.

"Yeah..." Adelaide trailed off entering the classroom.

Standing at the head of the classroom was a man in fancy baby blue robes, with perfectly placed golden hair, pale green eyes, and a look of self importance that rivaled that of Flinn Rowel.

"Welcome! Welcome!" He greeted in a very posh accent as class began, flashing a smile much brighter and whiter than should be strictly possible without magic. "My name is Eckhart Edelmar, and I will be your new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Now, I'm sure many of you probably recognize me from my critically acclaimed published works, or as the latest recipient of _Witch Weekly's_ Most Charming Smile Award--" he said flashing his blindingly bright smile causing Adelaide to roll her eyes, and Mary to swoon. "or even as the Chairman of the Dark Force Defence League." he said, obviously very pleased with himself. "But, I will be putting all that aside this year to teach you how to overcome some of the darkest creatures to roam the earth. We will cover everything from Boggarts to Kappas, and of course the most dangerous of all: _Werewolves-_ "

The Marauders instantly hated Eckhart Edelmar.

"- as well as other defensive spells-"

Professor Edelmar's perfect smile faltered into a look of offense as Adelaide raised her hand. "Yes? Miss..?"

"Adelaide Fawley." she said quickly, voice cold as ice. "I was wondering why you consider werewolves to be the most dangerous of all?" she asked, staring the unnaturally handsome man down as Remus looked like he wanted to crawl inside a deep hole and never come out. "Surely inferi or even Dementors would be more dangerous."

Eckhart Edelmar instantly disliked Adelaide Fawley.

"I am sure either one would be a fearsome thing to behold, but werewolves are indeed probably one of the most, if not _the_ most dangerous creatures in existence Miss Fawley. True monsters in every sense of the word."

"But they're just people, aren't they?" she shot back.

"They are not _human_ , if that is what you are referring to."

"They are too! They just have an illness-"

"They are soulless, evil, monstrous beasts! Now, if you continue to interrupt my class I will have to send you to see the headmaster! Do you understand Miss Fawley!?"

Adelaide, as well as James, Peter, Sirius, and Lily were all quaking with anger and disgust for the man.

"No, I don't understand! I was simply asking you to clarify between your _stupid_ opinion and the facts!"

"HEADMASTERS OFFICE! NOW!"

"GLADLY!" She screeched, dramatically grabbing her book bag and leaving without a second glance.

The rest of the class watched her leave in complete and utter shock.

The blonde stormed her way through the castle towards the headmasters office behind the gargoyle on the seventh floor, muttering curses under her breath all the while.

"Open up!" she snapped at the gargoyle, who looked rather unenthused by her tone.

"Password."

"I don't have a bloody password!"

"Password."

"UGH! I DON'T KNOW!"

" _He's fond of sweets._ " the gargoyle whispered.

"Chocolate frogs? Sugar quills? Fudge Flies?"

" _Try muggle candy..._ " it whispered again.

"Um... lemon drops? Smarties?"

"BINGO!" the gargoyle exclaimed, moving aside to reveal a circular, moving stone staircase. Adelaide watched the staircase with apprehension, then looked to the gargoyle again. "Just step on the stairs and they'll take you to the door." it whispered.

"Thank you Mr. Gargoyle!" she said sweetly, mood a tad bit better than it was only minutes before.

"The names Gary... I have a feeling we will be seeing a lot of each other Miss Adelaide." it said with a knowing look.

Adelaide briefly wondered how the gargoyle... well, _Gary,_ knew her name, but brushed off this thought and hopped onto the enchanted stairs towards the headmasters office.

She took a deep breath, then knocked on the great wooden door.

"Come in." Said a voice from inside.

Adelaide opened the door to reveal a old, but spritely, man with glittering blue eyes behind half-moon spectacles. She carefully walked toward him where he promptly conjured a squashy armchair and told her to have a seat.

"Miss Fawley... why don't you explain to me why you are here when you should be in your Defense Against the Dark Arts class." he said calmly.

"I um... well I disagreed with the professor, sir."

"In what way?"

Adelaide took a steadying breath, resolute in her conviction. "He said that werewolves were monsters, sir. I disagree."

Dumbledore peered at her from above his half-moon spectacles. "Interesting."

"Sir, um... are you going to give me detention or something?" she asked, a little confused by his non-response.

"Not today Miss Fawley, unless you would like me to?"

"No Sir!" she said quickly, shaking her head.

Dumbledore chuckled lightly. "While I have you here, there is something else I wish to discuss... Professor McGonagall informed me of your use of advanced wandless magic this morning..."

"Sir, I'm really sorry about that! It was on my best friends, if that makes it any better! They were teasing me you see, and I just couldn't let them get away with it or else they would just keep doing it!" She rambled in a rush.

"My dear girl, you are not in trouble!" he said with another light chuckle. "Actually, from what I hear, you handed the situation beautifully." Adelaide blushed slightly. "I merely wanted to learn more about this extraordinary ability of yours, and perhaps see if there was any way I could assist in helping you control it." he said easily, blue eyes twinkling. Adelaide had the distinct impression that he was trying to use Legilimency on her.

"Sir. I will tell you what you want to know, but I really don't appreciate people trying to peer into my thoughts." she said emotionlessly. Dumbledore leaned back in his chair, hands together in a steeple.

"There's much more to you than meets the eye Adelaide, isn't there?"


	49. Chapter 49

**Chapter 49- So, What's the Verdict?**

Adelaide arrived in her first Arithmancy class just seconds before the bell rang. She slid into the seat beside Remus and behind Lily, breathing heavy and fumbling to find her book out of her bag.

"Ads... what happened?! What did Dumbledore say?! You shouldn't have stuck up for me like that..." he whispered quickly.

"I'll explain everything later, but yes. I should have." she hissed back.

The class went by quicker than expected, probably because Adelaide _actually_ found it interesting being able to predict the future in such a precise and measurable way. However, as interesting as it may have been, she was still annoyed to find out they already had homework the first day of class.

"Addy, we can work on it together..." Lily said as they left the class.

Adelaide groaned. "But why do they always have to muck up interesting classes by giving us homework in the first place? LILY WHY!?"

"You've obviously spent way too much time around Black." Lily giggled.

"Huh?"

"You're just so... _dramatic_ this year. I mean you screamed at a teacher this morning Adelaide!"

"That git deserved it..." Adelaide grumbled.

Lily put her hands up in defense. "Never said he didn't! He was out of line. But, Last- Year-Addy wouldn't have called him out on it like that... Sirius might have though." she shrugged.

Adelaide continued to ponder this as the girls made their way toward the great hall for lunch. Was she different? Had she really changed that much? She thought, if anything she was just being more herself...

"ADDYKINS!" screamed a curly headed boy, running full steam ahead toward the petite blonde.

"Oomf! PADFOOT! PUT ME DOWN!" she squealed as he picked her up and spun her around in a hug. "PUT ME DOWN! YOU'RE MAKING ME DIZZY!" she laughed.

Sirius set her down gingerly. "You were bloody amazing back there!" he beamed, sitting in the seat beside her at the long table (she blushed slightly). "How bad is your detention?"

"Well Dumbledore didn't actually give me detention..." she said hesitantly.

"What?! Really?! That's great!" exclaimed James, as Peter beamed from where they were seated across from them.

Remus frowned from where he was sitting beside James. "But you were in there for a while... What did he say?"

Adelaide looked down, poking at her fish and chips with her fork and shrugged.

"Addy. That's not an answer." Sirius whispered.

"I'm aware of that." she mumbled.

Sirius's eyes darkened with concern. She was hiding something, but he figured she just didn't want to talk about it out in the open.

"We can talk about it later if you want." Sirius said thoughtfully. Adelaide nodded, still pushing around bits of fried fish.

After a long Transfiguration lesson, a lovely nap during History of Magic, and a delicious plate of roast beef at dinner, Adelaide went with the boys back to Gryffindor tower... slowly.

"I swear you are just going slow to bug me." Sirius said, trying to drag her up the stairs. Adelaide smirked. "You _are,_ aren't you!?"

"That's only part of the reason!" she laughed. "I also just hate climbing all these stairs..." she grumbled, looking up to him in hopes of a piggy back ride.

Sirius rolled his eyes, smiling. "FINE! I'll carry your lazy self up,"

"YES!" She cheered.

"BUT! I have one condition." he smirked.

Adelaide pouted. "Fine, what is it?"

His smirk widened. "You have to let Snuffles come up to the girls dorm."

"WHAT?! NO! WHY?!"

"I can't sleep Addy! You got me all spoiled in that stupid fluffy bed of yours! I was up all night!"

Adelaide rolled her eyes. "No."

"Come on Addy!"

"No."

"But the stairs! You hate the stairs!"

"Not happening. You'll just have to make due with not sleeping _and_ having me take forever."

Sirius furrowed his eyebrows in frustration. How was he on the losing end of this? "Ugh! Get up then!" he said, leaning down for her to hop on his back. Adelaide hesitated. "No condition. This is just me being a gentleman. Now hurry up before I change my mind and leave you here!"

Adelaide hopped on without a second thought.

"The common room looks different from up here." she commented as they entered through the portrait hole. "I like it."

"Ads? What are you doing?" Remus asked with a bit more hostility than really necessary.

"Sirius gave me a piggy back ride." she said with a laugh, she thought it was obvious. "I didn't want to climb all the stairs."

Remus rolled his eyes and muttered something under his breath. Sirius eyed him curiously. "What's got you all moody Moony?" he asked ruffling his sandy hair.

Remus huffed. "Take a wild guess."

Adelaide slipped off of Sirius's back and walked over to the teenage werewolf. "It'll be better this time." she said giving him a reassuring smile.

"Yeah... maybe... So you gonna tell us what Dumbledore said?"

Sirius watched as Adelaide looked down, fiddling with the sleeve of her robes. "Why don't we go upstairs?" he suggested. Adelaide nodded in a agreement and followed the two up to the boys dorm.

"What took you lot so long!?" James cried out, throwing a pillow in the newcomers general direction. "Pete and I have been here for _ages!"_

"Addykins was moving at a glacial pace." Sirius shrugged, flopping onto his bed and grabbing some Every Flavor Beans from his night stand. He popped an apple flavored bean in his mouth then threw an algae flavored one at Adelaide.

"Hey! I did not come up here to be pelted with your reject beans!" she complained.

"You're right. You came up here to tell us what Dumbledore said." Sirius smirked.

Adelaide scrunched up her nose in frustration. "Ugh! Move over!"

Adelaide sat cross legged at the foot of Sirius's bed, fiddling with the hem of her sleeve, and quietly recounted the discussion she'd had with the old wizard who offered to help her control her wandless magic... and how he tried to read her thoughts... and how she subsequently called him out on it.

"I knew it! I knew he could do Legilimency!" Sirius said passionately.

"Shush! Let her finish!" Jame said, waving his hand wildly at his curly headed best friend.

"So, then he said something about there being _more to me than meets the eye_... not sure what that meant. But he apologized for trying to read my thoughts and offered to tutor me in Occlumency in addition to doing wandless magic."

"And?! You're going to do it _right_?!" James asked. "I mean, this is a chance to take private lessons from freaking _Albus Dumbledore!"_

"I- I told him I would think about it." she said softly, bracing herself for the backlash.

"WHAT?! WHAT IS THERE TO THINK ABOUT?!" James hollered.

"Addy! He's possibly the greatest wizard on earth and he's offering to tutor you!" Peter exclaimed.

"I know that! I just... I dunno. I just get a weird vibe from the whole thing."

Sirius moved to sit beside her. "This is because of Riddle, isn't it?" he said quietly.

Adelaide looked up to see Sirius's grey eyes looking at her with a striking amount of intensity. "Well... Yes." She sighed as the others gave her looks of confusion. "I mean, he and riddle aren't all that different. They both didn't give me a second look until they realized I was more capable than they thought, they both tried to read my mind, and now they both want to tutor me. I know for a fact that Riddle wants to use me for some weird reason, and if I'm honest, that's the same vibe I got from Dumbledore."

Remus pursed his lips, thinking hard about what he was about to say. "Look, I know you don't trust Dumbledore, especially after he did basically nothing to help you when he found out about your family. But Ads, this is a really great opportunity, plus he could help you keep Riddle out of your head if you ever see him again."

"I mean... You make a good point... But I still need to think about it..." she said quietly. The boys sensed how uncomfortable she was and just let the matter drop for the moment, changing the subject to planning their prank against Dollie.

* * *

That Friday afternoon, after the first week of classes came to a much anticipated end, Adelaide found herself sitting on Mary's bed flipping through one of her Quidditch Magazines, avoiding Lily Evans's nagging for her to do their Arithmancy homework together.

Mary looked over at her friend and half-heartedly asked the same question she had posed for a majority of the year before. "Sooo, you going to try out for Quidditch this year?"

"Yeah." Adelaide said casually, flipping to a _'Where are they now?'_ story about former Holyhead Harpies seeker Glynnis Griffiths.

Mary perked up. "Wait... _WHAT_?! REALLY?!"

"Well, yeah... Didn't I tell you this?"

"NO! NO YOU DID NOT TELL ME THIS!" Mary squealed, flailing her long willowy limbs around wildly.

Adelaide gave her a guilty smile. "Erm... well yeah. I practiced all summer with Sirius."

Mary smiled knowingly. "I bet that was fun... Having him around all summer..."

"As a matter of fact it was, but not because of _that_."

Mary smirked. "I saw him give you a piggy back ride up the stairs the other day..."

"I was tired!"

"Mmhmm... Sure you were..." She said slyly.

"Mar, I told you that you couldn't tease me about that! Besides, I don't even like him like that anymore." she lied rather convincingly.

Mary made a puzzled expression. "I can't tell if you're lying or not."

Adelaide smirked.

"You _are_ lying! You _lurrrvvvv_ him– OW!" She exclaimed as Adelaide threw Dorris at her face. "Fine! I'll stop! Geez... We need to get you on the quidditch pitch so you can direct all this aggression towards something _that_ _isn't my face."_ she huffed.

"No worries, I'm practicing with James all day tomorrow."

Mary grinned and squealed in delight. "I'm just so excited to see you out there! You know, I asked McGonnagall, and she said I could try being commentator for the first game!"

"WHAT?! Oh Merlin, I can see it now!" Adelaide stood up on the bed, looking off into some imaginary Quidditch game going on somewhere near Lily and Marlene's beds. " _Captain dreamy, Blake Wood, fires a well placed bludger toward that git of a Puff Gudgeon Oh, and he's down folks! Now here comes that cheeky Mr. Potter, eying that prat of a puff Edgar Bones... the Quaffles in the air... and... SCORE!"_ she said in her 'announcer voice', pointing toward nothing in particular as Mary was rolling on her side laughing. _"And here comes the myth, the legend, and sassiest Marauder of them all, Adelaide Fawley, for the shot to tie the game! Been telling her to try out for years folks!"_ she exclaimed, jumping up and down, flailing her arms around just as Marlene walked into the dorm.

"What the hell are you doing?" she asked incredulously.

"Commentating the game." Adelaide answered calmly and unflinchingly.

"What game?"

"The one over there?" Adelaide replied, pointing toward Marlene and Lily's beds.

Marlene's eyes shot over to the beds, then she rolled her eyes as she went to grab the book she forgot. "You two are so weird." she muttered with a slight smile the other two couldn't see as she left.

"I don't care what Marlene says, that was awesome! If by some tragedy you don't make the team, you can have my job as commentator!" Mary laughed, wiping away tears.

"Good to have a back-up plan I suppose." She shrugged.

* * *

Adelaide sat with Regulus and Evan at breakfast the next morning, munching on her waffles, and listening with amusement as the two boys bickered about whether or not _The Appleby Arrows_ were a better team than _The Wimbourne Wasps._

"Addy! You ready to go?!" James asked with a big smile as he came up to her and her slithery friends. "Oh hey Reg!" He said, ruffling his hair.

Regulus patted his hair back down and mumbled a 'hi' back quietly, then glanced toward some other Slytherins who were eyeing the interaction with suspicion.

"Nearly, you can sit with us for a bit while I finish eating if you want!"

James noticed the unfriendly faces all around, including Snivellus. "Uhhh... How about you just come find me when your done? I'll wait for you back by our table... need to go ask Evans something anyway." He said with an uneasy smile.

"Oh. Um alright... see you in a few." She said softly, waving as he made his way back to the Gryffindor table, then slumping down in her seat beside Regulus.

Evan Rosier leaned over the table to whisper to the girl. "Ads, he didn't leave because of you... he left because of _them._ " he said quietly, nodding his head toward a huddle of sour faced Slytherins a little further down the table.

Adelaide looked over and frowned. "Oh."

After she finished up her breakfast she went over by the Marauder boys to wait for James, who was currently begging Lily Evans to go to the Hogsmead weekend... that hadn't been announced yet.

"He wastes no time at all, does he?" she chuckled sitting beside a rather pale Remus and across from Sirius.

Remus smirked. "He's only doing that because he heard Bertha Jorkins gossiping, saying that Davey Gudgeon was going to ask her."

"Bertha's an idiot." Sirius scoffed.

"So is Davey! He tried to poke the Whomping Willow just for the hell of it! He nearly lost an eye!" Adelaide exclaimed.

"Sort of sounds like something James would do though..." Sirius countered.

"Yeah, but James isn't an idiot."

"That's possibly the nicest thing you've ever said about me Tufts!" James said, clapping her on the back as he returned from pestering Lily.

"So, what's the verdict?" Remus asked smirking.

"Her mouth said no... but her eyes said maybe." he said confidently. "You ready to go now Ads?"

Sirius looked back and forth between the two. "Wait. Where are you going?"

"Oh, James said he would help me train for Quidditch tryouts!" she explained happily.

Sirius knew that it was great that she was practicing with James, especially since he was already a chaser for the team, but he felt a little disappointed that she hadn't asked him to help her... After all, it was sort of _their_ _thing_.

Adelaide seemed to read the hurt on his face. "Pads, you okay?"

Sirius instantly plastered a smile that Adelaide didn't find quite genuine. "I'm fine. You two go have fun!"

"Will do! Oh! And Padfoot... don't forget, tonight's the night..." she whispered, nodding to Remus.

* * *

Adelaide and James walked onto the Quidditch pitch, breathing in the crisp morning air.

"Ah! Alrighty Coach! What's first?!"

"Run five laps around the pitch." he said instantly.

Adelaide looked at him in horror. "W-what?"

"HOP TO IT FAWLEY!" he said clapping his hands and chasing her.

Adelaide jumped in surprise, then ran, begrudgingly. She made it about two and a half laps around then started whining and holding the stitch in her side. "POTTER... I... CAME TO... LEARN QUIDDITCH... NOT TO FEEL LIKE I WAS DYING!" she shouted between labored breaths.

"OH FINE! YOU CAN BE DONE NOW YOU LAZY CAT!"

"I'M NOT A CAT!" she replied reflexively, internally cringing.

James smirked. "YOU SURE ABOUT THAT TUFTS?" he laughed.

After Adelaides slow walk back to the middle of the field, she mounted her broom, kicking off like a rocket into the air. "Alright Prongsy! Teach me your ways!"

James went through a variety of maneuvers and strategies, most of which she had already learned from Sirius, then practiced passing the Quaffle, making penalty shots, and flying some routes until it was nearly dinner.

"Prongsy... I'm tired." she whined.

"Sorry princess, you aren't getting any piggy back rides from me." he laughed.

"UGH! JAMES PLEASE!?"

"No!" he chuckled.

Adelaide pouted... walking at an annoyingly slow pace... entirely on purpose.

"Come on! You can't be _that_ tired!"

"I am though! I think I'm dying! I can see the light ahead! Tell Dorris I love her!" She exclaimed melodramatically, reaching her arms out into the distance.

"Ugh! Fine you lazy house cat! But only because you're going to need your energy with Moony tonight!"


	50. Chapter 50

**Chapter 50- Cat, Dog, Wolf**

Once Adelaide and James made it back to the great hall, Adelaide shimmied off of her messy haired friend's back to sit with Mary, Lily, and Marlene for dinner. After they went back up to Gryffindor tower, the other girls stayed downstairs to study/play card games in the common room, whilst Adelaide scurried up to the girls' dorm to take a quick nap before she and Sirius left to help Moony.

She had only been asleep for what felt like five minutes, but in reality was _well_ over an hour, when she felt something shaking her awake... _someone_...

"Stop it!" she demanded of the mystery person. They persisted in shaking her... so, naturally, she whacked them with a pillow.

"ADDYKINS GET UP!" said a low voice.

Adelaide's eyes flew open in shock, then rested upon the figure of a lanky boy, with curly hair, and grey eyes looking quite unenthused with her being in bed.

"Sirius?! What are you— How did you even get up here?!"

"I turned into Padfoot." he said impatiently. "Now, get up! We have to go! We're going to be late!" He said, trying to drag her out of bed, but eyes wandering around the room he had only ever envisioned for the past two years.

"Go? Go where? Late to what?"

Sirius looked at her incredulously and said, "Moony."

Turns out, this was all he had to say for her to jump out of bed in a panic (without her shoes) and tear down the girls staircase, which turned into a slide halfway down, thanks to Sirius.

"Arraaagghh!" she screamed as she fell on her bum. "You did that on purpose..." she grumbled.

"Meh... You deserved it." Sirius shrugged with a smirk as they raced each other out the common room, and down the grand staircase.

"Merlin's baggy Y fronts... I forgot my damn shoes..."

Sirius held out a pair of trainers in front of her face. "You're welcome."

"Thank you! So, do we have a plan or something going in there? How are we going to even do this?" Adelaide asked in hushed tones as they crept through the castle.

Sirius looked unfazed. "I figured we'd just wing it. But we should probably transform once we get outside."

Adelaide nodded... then grimaced, looking down to her bare feet. "Sounds good to me, but um can we stop for a second? I need to put these on... I think I just stepped on some leftover gum from that prank we did the other day on peeves."

Sirius chuckled as she sat on the floor to slip on her shoes. "You didn't happen to grab any socks did you?" she asked hopefully.

"Nope, sorry Ads."

"Ughh it's fine..." she muttered, squeezing her foot into the shoe.

"Why don't you just conjure some socks?"

"I don't know how." said Adelaide, trying to scape the gunk on the sole of her other foot.

"Are you telling me you can conjure multiple flocks of living, breathing, birds to attack us during breakfast, but you can't make yourself some damn socks?"

Adelaide smirked. "I only learn the useless spells. You should really know these things by now, Padfoot."

"Ah yes, of course. My most sincere apologies Miss Tufts." He smirked back.

"What do you two think you're doing out and about the castle at this time of night?" drawled seventh year, Slytherin prefect, Lucius Malfoy.

"Putting my shoes on." Adelaide deadpanned, looking up to the boy, then looking back down to finish tying her laces.

Lucius glared at the girl her with almost palpable contempt, instantly spiking Sirius's protective instincts.

"Adelaide left something downstairs, I was walking with her to get it... never know what kind of people are wandering the halls this time of night." Sirius said cooly, eyeing the long haired teen in front of him.

"Charming story!" Lucius sneered. "I'm sure McGonagall will love it, why don't you come with me..."

"How about we don't?"

Lucius's sneer turned to a look of pure anger. "Either come with me willingly, you little miscreants, or I will _make_ you." he spat venomously.

Sirius's jaw was clenched, hand reaching for the wand in his pocket. Adelaide could tell he was about to make this sticky situation much stickier, so she quickly stood up and gently put a hand on his forearm. "Don't," she whispered, "he's not worth it."

Sirius tore his eyes away from glaring at Lucius, looking instead toward her delicate face; her gentle forest green eyes calming him down almost instantly.

"Fine. We'll go with you." He said to the prefect after a beat, his eyes never leaving hers.

The two followed the self-satisfied prefect for a long while. Then, when he wasn't looking, they sprinted off down a nearby hallway, ducking into an empty classroom, listening to Malfoy's creative cursing and loud footsteps echo behind them.

Sirius sniggered quietly, peeking through the key hole at the stupid, clueless Slytherin, running around like a chicken with his head cut off.

"Pads... Padfoot. Sirius! _Look_!" Adelaide whisper-shouted, whacking his arm.

Sirius turned around to see Adelaide moving closer and closer toward the back of the abandoned classroom; toward a large, gold framed mirror with the inscription: _'erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi'_. He didn't see anything all that special about it, besides the fact that it held an impressive amount of dust.

"Ads... it's just a dusty old mirror." He said slowly.

"No. No it's not." She said shaking her head and moving closer, reaching her hand out to touch the glass longingly. "This is definitely not a normal mirror..."

Sirius, concerned, walked over to the 'not normal mirror' to see what in the name of Merlin she was talking about. Adelaide looked like she was nearly bewitched; face studying the mirror intently; fingers tracing over some imaginary image. All Sirius saw was the two of them.

"Addy... come on, love. We need to go help Moony... Remember?"

Adelaide wasn't listening.

"Addy! Snap out of it!" he said, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry, what?" She said, turning toward him in a daze.

Sirius didn't know what was up with that freaky mirror, but he was not about to get sucked into it like she was. "Come on. We're leaving." he said, grabbing her by the arm tightly, and attempting to drag her out of the room.

"Stop it!" She yelped, trying to wrench her arm free of his grasp.

"No! Addykins we need to leave!"

"But— but I-I saw..." she trailed off eyes trying to look back at the magic mirror.

Sirius firmly put his hands on either arm, trying to keep her from wriggling away to look at the mirror again. "Adelaide. Whatever you saw... it wasn't real. But do you know what _is_ real? The amount of suffering Remus is probably dealing with right now because _we_ aren't there to distract him from trying to mutilate himself! Now come _on_!"

Adelaide blinked. "Y-you're right... I'm sorry." she said softly, shaking her head, then following Sirius out of the room without looking back.

As they sneaked through the castle toward an exit, she wondered how she could have believed that anything she saw was real? It was impossible... completely impossible.

Once outside they quickly changed into their animal forms, and not a moment too soon. Filch the caretaker came huffing and puffing around the corner wearing a bathrobe, muttering something about 'those damn Marauders,' followed soon after by a parade of shimmering lights. Sirius smirked internally as they raced off in the shadows toward the Whomping Willow.

While Adelaide and James were off doing their Quidditch practice session earlier that day, he and Peter had planted a few dozen _Dr Filibuster's Fabulous Wet-Start, No-Heat Fireworks_ in Filch's shower head.

Tufts looked back at the flustered man, then gave a side eyed look and subtle nod to the big dog next to her.

The two animals quickly made their way to the violent tree. Padfoot kept his distance, watching with bated breath as Tufts scurried through the angry limbs and branches, with more grace and dexterity than he would ever possess, and place her front paws on a knot on the trunk. The tree was rendered completely and utterly motionless, right down to the small leaves which were frozen in place like a statue. Padfoot let out a little yip of gratitude and followed the fluffy white cat into the dark tunnel.

They moved quickly downward in the low earthy tunnel, trying to dodge some spiders that seemed a little larger than normal, and listening to the howls that became louder and louder the further they traveled. The tunnel began to rise then twisted— just as Moony had described. Adelaide could see a dim light up ahead. She felt a sinking feeling in the pit of her feline stomach as she listened to the snapping and scraping of wood, intermingled with loud howls and whimpers.

Sirius, being the biggest, moved ahead of his feline friend, blocking her from view of the beast that dwelled within as they came closer to the small opening.

They stepped into the room that looked much past its prime; wallpaper peeling; broken furniture all around; stains splattered across the floor; windows boarded up as if for an incoming tropical storm. Then— lurking in the shadows, in the corner of the room— a werewolf.

The large dog slowly and quietly moved into the room, testing the waters to see how the animal would react to having visitors. The wolf looked at the dog, then tilted its head to the side, as if it recognized it, but couldn't quite remember how. The cat, seeing that the wolf was somewhat calm, chanced her way into the room as well.

The werewolf's amber eyes flashed in recognition and it leaped forward toward the cat. Padfoot moved to block her from the wolf, entirely out of instinct, causing the wolf to let out a low whine.

Adelaide, well... Tufts, could see from between Padfoot's legs that there was blood in Moony's fur, dripping down slowly unto the already bloodstained wooden floor beneath his gigantic paws. Without a moment's hesitation, she bolted out between the large dog's legs with ease and trotted over to the wolf. Moony, again, looked at her with searching amber eyes which flashed in recognition— but this time, abruptly leaned down and licked her whole right side: from her leg, all they way up to her little tufted ear.

Padfoot growled, stalking closer, but Tufts shot him a warning look, and meowed as if to say she as okay. Surprisingly, Sirius completely understood and relaxed a bit. The wolf's gaze upon the snowy white cat shifted to it's wound. Adelaide's eyes focused on the spot, and she wished that there was something she could do; that there was some way that she could help him. But, her wand was far away in a bush by the castle, and there was no way she could turn human to do wandless magic on him... But what if she didn't need to be human to do wandless magic?

It was worth a shot.

Adelaide hopped up onto a chair with a missing chunk of stuffing, in order to get closer to the place where the wound was located on the wolf's right shoulder. Sirius and Moony both looked at her as if she had gone mad. She made a sort of bossy-meow sound, plainly asking for the wolf to move closer, which it did, though it had no idea why.

With forest green eyes focused on the wound, she lifted her dainty white paw and pointed it toward the laceration, then thought the spell needed to heal it; imagining the wolf's flesh stitching itself back together. The wolf and dog both looked with astonishment as the large gash healed itself into nothing more than a scratch.

The wolf let out an excited _yip_ and went to lick her face once more. Tufts growled before it got too close, and she swore she heard Sirius's bark like laugh, though he was still indubitably in dog form.

Padfoot bent down in a playful position, tongue hanging out to the side, and panting in a way that looked like he was smiling (which he probably was). The wolf caught on quickly and matched his position across from him, then leaped to attack the dog playfully.

Adelaide watched them tussle around from her perch upon the sad looking chair, giving herself a little cat bath. However, soon she felt the two animals eyeing her and acted surprised when one of them prodded her back with their nose.

She leaped down from the chair and mimicked the playful dog stance, shimmying backwards for them to follow after her. When they did, she bolted around the room like a rocket, running over and under the broken furniture faster than they could reach, slowing down every once and a while for them to catch up with her.

After a while, Moony became quite tired and contented himself in curling up onto an old bed in the corner of the room, and falling asleep.

Padfoot looked through the cracks of the boarded up windows and realized it was nearly sun up. Moony would be transforming back into Remus any minute. Padfoot quickly went over to the fluffy white cat and herded her back toward the tunnel entrance, so as to give him a bit of privacy.

They were just inside when they both heard a loud, heart breaking, howl-like scream come from inside the room. The scream became more human, and after a minute... it was quiet.

Adelaide slipped through Sirius's dog legs and padded her way toward the boy sitting on the edge of the bed in a black robe. She quickly turned human and made her way toward her friend.

"Pads! You can come out now!" She said towards the dog. Seconds later Sirius appeared at her side.

"Hey buddy... how're you feeling?" He asked carefully with a half-smile.

"I-I-I think that was the best full moon I've ever had..." Remus said quietly in disbelief.

Adelaide's face lit up. "So it helped? Having us around and all?"

Remus looked up to her with amber eyes welling with tears, looking upon her delicate face. "Yes. You-you have no idea— Usually it's the wolf that's in control, but tonight— it was like I was myself." He said smiling up at the two of them, wiping away his happy tears of gratitude. "Thank you."

Adelaide, beaming, went to hug him, nuzzling her face in the fluffy robe. "You're welcome Remmy..."

Remus blushed slightly. "You two should probably get out of here, Poppy will be here soon to come get me."

Adelaide let go, then transformed along withSirius back into their animal forms, trotting back to the castle. They hid behind the bush where they stashed their wands, and waited for Remus to walk back with Poppy. The last thing they overheard before they walked through the castle doors, was how Remus looked better than she'd ever seen after the moon and how he should be able to go free that morning, as soon as she gave him the once over.


	51. Chapter 51

**Chapter 51- Whoa There, Cutie!**

As the first few weeks of the fall semester rolled on, Adelaide began to get in a good little routine. On Tuesdays and Thursday's, she would appease Lily by doing homework with her during her study hall periods before lunch; Eat breakfast and catch up with Evan and Regulus over the weekends; plot, plan, and scheme pranks with the rest of the Marauders on Saturdays; and work on flying with James Tuesday and Friday afternoons— where Sirius and Mary had started to join in and commentate their actions — in detail...

"Looks like Potter has made Fawley start running laps again—" Mary said in a magnified voice in the all but abandoned announcer's box, early October, during their last Friday afternoon practice before tryouts. "She is on the move— _slowly_ — but on the move no less!"

"I'm surprised she can move at all, given that she can hardly make it up the damn stairs without begging for _someone_ to carry her like a spoiled— "

"Looks like she has learned some interesting new hand gestures folks!"

"Oh yes! That's her new way of thanking us for the brilliant play-by-play coverage McDonald!"

"Right you are Black! She gave me one of those when I dropped my crystal ball on her feet last week, she also called me a bloody wan—"

"THEY ARE IN THE AIR! I REPEAT! THEY ARE FINALLY IN THE AIR!"

Adelaide swooped up beside them and chunked a Quaffle straight between the two want-to-be-commentators, nearly missing them both.

"I believe that was the first time Adelaide Fawley has ever missed a shot!" Sirius exclaimed.

"Impossible! I'd say it was impossible if I didn't see it with my own eyes!"

"—And rather lovely eyes they are McDonald—"

There was a loud _thunk_ as Mary knocked Sirius on the ground. "I take it back, she has the most hideous and heinous brown orbs I've ever witnessed."

James instantly zoomed up beside them. "That wasn't a miss— that was a warning." he smirked.

Adelaide swooped up beside James. "And if you ever use the word 'orbs' to describe anyone else's eyes ever again, I swear I will hunt you down and charm a gigantic Dorris to chase you until you are begging for mercy."

"Are you sure you aren't a Slytherin?" Sirius asked, clearly a little shaken from her threat.

"Speak of the devil... What are _they_ doing here?" Mary whined, pointing toward the other end of the pitch where Slytherin's Avery, Mulciber, and Wilkes strutted upon the field as if they owned it.

"Move it losers! We need the pitch to practice!" Wilkes called out.

Mary instantly launched herself over to the enchanted voice magnifier. "Well, well folks, seems we have some mid-practice entertainment today! I had no idea trolls could even fly brooms!"

Sirius sneered. "I saw one fly once— fell straight off and broke every bone in their body— but we really mustn't get our hopes up."

"You'd better watch your tongue you filthy blood-traitors!" Mulciber spat.

"Oh, is that Fawley?" Avery asked in a sickly-sweet voice, sporting a terrifyingly twisted smile. "I do believe it is! I wonder what your dear old mumsy would do if she heard about your little 'werewolf rights' campaign during class... I think she'd be rather upset, don't you Wilkes?"

Wilkes sneered. "I think she would Avery... I think it would just break her sweet heart."

Sirius snorted. Cathryn Fawley didn't have a heart to break.

"It would really be a shame if she found out... though I'd imagine she wouldn't if you gave us the pitch this afternoon..." Mulciber taunted.

James, Sirius, and Mary all looked to Adelaide. Adelaide, however, was looking straight at the terrible trio, raised her hand and muttered " _Anteoculatia,"_ causing all three to start sprouting beautiful sets of antlers, then run away in fright.

James laughed so hard he nearly wet himself.

"I thought you'd appreciate that one." Adelaide smirked. "Now, back to practice, yeah?"

* * *

"I can't believe those idiots told McGonnagall..." Adelaide grumbled.

It was later that evening and Adelaide and Sirius were both polishing plaques and badges in the trophy room during detention, while Mary and James dusted books in the library.

"I can." Sirius snipped, throwing his rag onto the floor. "Addykins," he began in a too sweet voice. "My cleverest, most funniest, prettiest, bestest friend..."

"What do you want?" she asked in a tired voice. She didn't even blush when he complemented her like this anymore... although the butterflies were still very much present and accounted for in her stomach.

"Surely you know a spell that would make this go faster..."

"Sirius, it doesn't work like that."

"Come on Addy!" he begged. "This polish is drying out my hands!"

"I told you to bring gloves." she shrugged, continuing her polishing of some old Special Award for Services to the School.

"Adelaide!" he protested.

"McGonagall took our wands you dramatic poodle!"

Sirius smirked. "But _you_ don't need a wand."

"It doesn't work like that Sirius! I've only ever done wandless magic when I was upset!"

Sirius tried to hide his smirk. "Fine."

For the next ten minutes Sirius pulled Adelaide's hair when she wasn't looking, presented her with a fake award for being the most brilliant person on the planet, and 'accidentally' knocked over her bucket of sudsy water.

"Have I mentioned how many guys come up to me asking if you're part veela? It's bloody annoying." he grumbled.

"WOULD YOU JUST STOP IT! WHY DO YOU HAVE TO BE SUCH A FREAKING PEST?!" she roared, throwing her rag at Sirius. Honestly, he had given up hope of actually upsetting her after he knocked the water bucket over, he was just trying to make light conversation at this point. But, he was not about to let a good opportunity go to waste.

"Oh, have I upset you Addykins?" he asked, feigning innocence.

"NO, I'M HAPPIER THAN EVER, YOU IDIOT!"

"You don't look very happy... but you do look a tad more Veela-esque when you get all worked up like that." he chanced, wincing when she let out a long stream of expletives.

" _Scourgify!"_ she exclaimed, hands pointed around the room.

The trophies and plaques all began to scrub themselves clean.

"Happy now?" she asked, picking up the rag and throwing it at him again.

"Immensely!" he cheered with a smug smile.

Adelaide kicked a trophy, then sat down on the opposite end of the room to sulk.

"Addykins, come on... " Sirius said, moving over to her.

"Shush! Let me brood in peace!" she said, turning the other direction.

"Ads! Brooding alone is no fun! Believe me, I've tried it..."

"Why do you have to be so annoying?!" she asked sincerely.

Sirius smirked, taking a seat beside her. "To what annoying thing are you referring?"

"All of it! It's like you just take joy in watching me get upset with you! And making up all that veela rubbish—"

"I actually wasn't trying to upset you with that part." he shrugged. "It's a real thing. They've been asking Prongs and Moony too, but Moony seems to find it more annoying for some reason."

"What?"

"Did you really not know this?" Sirius asked.

"Of course not! Why would they even think that?"

Sirius tilted his head to the side like a curious puppy. "I tell you all the time that you're pretty. Did you think I was lying or something?"

"I-I — I didn't — I thought— I-I-I— "

Sirius smirked. "Words Fawley. Words and sentences. You can do it, I believe in you!"

Adelaide smacked him upside the head, then continued to sulk, distracting herself by intensely studying the award she had been polishing earlier… then suddenly jumped to her feet, flailing her arms around in excitement. "IT'S HIM! HE— HIM!"

"Who?! Addykins, please use sentences!"

"TOM!" she exclaimed, shoving the award in his face.

Sirius looked down at the plaque given to Tom Riddle, 1943, for Services to the School.

"What the hell? He never really struck me as a 'do-gooder'—The opposite really..."

"Sirius! We have a lead!" she said with a manic glint in her eyes. "We can look in the old records, or ask someone that taught here what he got the award for... Maybe we can figure out what his big plan is..."

Adelaide began pacing and muttering things to herself. She usually only got this way when she was waist-deep in plotting pranks on Snivellus, or that brief time at the end of last year when she was trying to cram a years worth of lessons into her head in the span of a few weeks.

"Whoa, let's just slow down there, love." Sirius said, trying to direct her to sit back down.

"Shhh! I'm thinking!"

"I know, that's why I'm worried."

"Sirius, that riddle guy... he's up to something awful, I can just tell... All that stuff he said about power... I just have to figure it out."

"Addy, you know, Dumbledore has been teaching here for a long time... and I know he still really wants to tutor you."

"I don't know what your talking about." she said quickly.

"You are literally the most un-sneakiest person on the planet Adelaide. Did you really think I wouldn't notice all the notes he's been sending, bugging you to reconsider?"

Adelaide folded her arms over her chest and scrunched her nose up in disgruntlement. "Nosy mutt." she muttered.

"Addy, you could do the lessons with him, then ask him about Riddle."

"I thought you were on my side!" she exclaimed.

"I am! I don't trust him all that much either... but he did give Remmy a chance to go to school despite his furry little problem, and he did defeat Grindelwald, _and_ ... he did teach here when our parents and Riddle were here." Sirius said thoughtfully. "If you want to get information about Riddle, I think Dumbledore is the one you need to talk to."

Adelaide hit Sirius upside the head.

"Hey! What was that for!?"

"For being right." she grumbled.

* * *

"Addy, you're going to do great!" Peter said sincerely, giving her a pat on the back at breakfast the next morning, just before quidditch trials.

"I-I think this is a big mistake." she said putting her head her hands. "I don't even like quidditch all that much." she lied. "I'll just be a commentator with Mary."

"Sorry, that position's been filled already, love." Sirius chuckled. "Ads, you're going to be fine. There is no chance in hell they won't let you on the team—"

"Don't jinx it!" she screeched.

Sirius raised his eyebrows.

"Addy. As someone who happens to be the most talented person on the team, I can tell you that you are nearly as good as I am." James said with a frightening amount of sincerity, that made Adelaide wonder just how big his ego really was.

Remus sighed. "What he is trying to say, is you are a natural born chaser. You will be fine. But if by some horrible clerical error, they _don't_ let you on the team, we will be here to support you—"

"And prank that handsome git of a captain Blake Wood." Mary interjected casually. "Why are you all looking at me like that? I can do pranks too you know!"

"I-I still don't think this is a good idea..."

"Adelaide Rose Fawley. You are _going_ to try out for the bloody team! I'll drag you there kicking and screaming if I have to!" Mary said passionately, thoughts turning a bit more violent as she began to think of the team's chances of loosing without Adelaide there.

Sirius coughed to hide a laugh at Adelaide's wide-eyed horror, and subtle scooting away from the Quidditch obsessed brunette.

Sirius leaned over and grabbed her hands in his. "Addykins. Close your eyes and breathe. Just breathe and think of Gwendolyn Morgan. Embrace the bad ass chaser within." Sirius said soothingly, taking deep meditative breaths. Mary raised an eyebrow at his tactic in suspicion, but was pleased to see that it seemed to be helping.

Adelaide smiled with her eyes closed. "I am a bad ass chaser. I will give any boy who proposes to me a concussion."

Sirius let go of her hands to laugh loudly along with the others. "You're going to be fine Ads! And, we'll be right there in the stands cheering you on!"

"Alright, I'll try out." she said as if this was something up for discussion.

* * *

"Line up! Line up everyone! Seekers over there, Beaters that way, and Keepers and Chasers go over by the goal-posts!" Called fifth year captain and Beater, Blake Wood.

Adelaide shouldered her broom and walked with determination toward the goal posts, mumbling 'I am a bad ass chaser' inaudibly under her breath.

Blake stepped in front of her blocking her path. "Whoa there, cutie! Seekers are that way!" Wood said, pointing toward the group to the right of the pitch.

"Lovely for them." she quipped, trying to scoot past him.

"You aren't really going to try out for Chaser, are you?" he asked incredulously.

Adelaide mustered up the most determined face she could, "I am."

"Good Godric! Is this some sort of joke?" he exclaimed.

James, sensing trouble, made his way over to her. "Hey Ads! Let's go!" he said with a smile.

"I'm _trying!"_ she growled. "This oaf won't let me pass!"

"Watch your mouth cutie! This 'oaf' happens to be the captain!"

"Don't call me cutie and I won't call you an oaf!" she spat.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" James said, stepping between the two before Wood could retaliate. "Woody, this is my friend I told you about. Adelaide Fawley."

 _"This_ is Little Porskoff?!" he asked in disbelief, gesturing to the scrawny girl. "When you said little I didn't think she would be a freaking munchkin!"

"Listen! I don't know what the hell a _munchkin_ is—

Wood waved is hand impatiently, "It's a muggle thing—"

"—but if you insist upon insulting and belittling me, at least wait until I have a chance to actually try out!" she bristled.

Wood clenched his jaw, breathing heavily, then wordlessly let her pass, certain that she would fail.

Of course, he was wrong. So very embarrassingly wrong. Adelaide made every single penalty shot, then she zoomed around in the routes, expertly avoiding the other chasers on the 'opposing team', and dodged the bludgers coming at her accidentally by terribly aimed beater-want-to-be's.

At the end of the trials, Adelaide was more confident than ever that all her hard work had paid off.

"I do believe you have earned yourself a piggy-back ride Addykins!" Sirius said, swelling with pride as he made his way toward her and James.

Adelaide grinned, then jumped onto his back giggling. Remus felt a little burst of annoyance for some odd reason.

"Ugh! You know, you're a little smelly..." Sirius said in a nasally voice, holding his nose.

Adelaide shrugged. "You should have thought of that before you offered."

Adelaide was a mess every day leading up to the posting of the team on Wednesday. She went back and forth between thinking she had no shot at all of making the team, wondering why she would waste her time with such an absurdly fruitless endeavor, and being confident enough to give even James's big ego a run for it's money. Her friends found it amusing the first day, but just plain annoying by time Wednesday rolled along.

Finally, to _everyone's_ relief Wood posted the team roster on the notice board of the common room first thing Wednesday morning:

 **Chasers:** _James Potter, Blair Wood, Jack Middleton_

 **Beaters** : _Blake Wood, Frederick Armstrong_

 **Keeper** : _Bartley McLaggen_

 **Seeker** : _Finlay Bell_

 _ **Alternate Chaser** : Adelaide Fawley_


	52. Chapter 52

**Chapter 52- Warning: Dung Brained Idiot**

Adelaide stared at the newly posted team roster in shock. The only thing running through her mind was, 'What did I do wrong?'.

"ALTERNATE? _ALTERNATE_!!!??? THAT —NO GOOD— STEAMING PILE OF— _HIPPOGRIFF SHIT!_ THAT PRIDEFUL— HALF WITTED— SON OF A TROLL— SHE WORKED TOO DAMN HARD FOR A PRICK LIKE HIM TO DO SOMETHING LIKE _THIS_ TO HER!"

"Mate, you're right, but you've got to calm down—" James tried to reason, though utterly shocked by both the roster and his friend's outrage.

"NO! I WILL NOT CALM DOWN! SHE DOESN'T DESERVE THIS! SO HELP ME PRONGS, I'M GOING TO HEX HIM INTO THE NEXT CENTURY! I'M GOING TO PRANK HIM SO BRUTALLY THAT HE WILL BE BEGGING FOR MERCY!" Remus roared, trying to fight his way through James and Peter's arms toward cowardly Blake Wood, who was currently attempting to run out of the common room at full speed; trying to get as far away from the angry third year as possible.

"DON'T YOU DARE RUN AWAY— YOU RUDDY COWARD! SHE DESERVES TO KNOW WHY YOU WOULD MAKE SUCH AN IDIOTIC DECISION!" Mary bellowed, now being held back by Lily and Marlene. "YOU BETTER WATCH YOUR BACK YOU DUNG BRAINED COWARDLY EXCUSE FOR A GRYFFINDOR!"

"Addykins, let's just skip Herbology today." Sirius said in forced calmness, pulling her away from the raging Remus Lupin and Mary McDonald, and shoving his own righteous fury deep _deep_ down within him. "We can take the tunnel to Honeyduke's and get you some of those sour sugar quills you like, then make it back in time for you to go to Ancient Runes."

Adelaide shook her head absently, still much too preoccupied with wondering what she could have possibly done wrong... Blair Wood, Blake's fourth year little sister, only made half the shots she threw, and she nearly fell off her broom trying to do the loop during the route formation...

"— sure? Addy? Did you hear what I said?"

Adelaide turned to face the grey eyes of her concerned best friend. Then blinked. "What?"

"I asked if you were sure about not sneaking to Hogsmeade and skipping double Herbology." Sirius said slowly, trying to gage her emotionless face. She seemed completely bemused, which he supposed was better than being furious like Loony Moony and Mary, or even himself.

"No, I should go to class." She said nodding to herself.

Her eyes scanned over the common room, past the outrage of her friends, to see the sneering judgmental looks from those in other years. She quickly realized how ungrateful she must've seemed.

"You guys... I still sort of made the team though..." Adelaide said hesitantly, holding back the tears that she very much wanted to shed, and pulling her lips into a smile. "I-I mean it could be — w-worse..." her voice cracked, betraying her.

Sirius frowned leaning closer to whisper to her. "Addykins. It's okay to be upset about this."

"I know. But— I can't be upset about it in front of everyone. I don't want people to think I'm being a spoiled brat." she whispered back, voice shaking a little.

"Who cares what they think!?"

Adelaide gave him a desperate look. "I do." she whispered. "You know I do."

Sirius would never understand why the opinions of people other than her friends could ever matter that much to her, but nodded nonetheless. "Why don't we just go to Hogsmeade, then you can be upset without everyone around... and get a free butterbeer from yours truly." He winked, determined to make her smile again.

Adelaide laughed despite her sadness. "Okay, fine. But I really do need to be back before Ancient Runes. James and I are planning to tie Snivellus's shoes together today."

"Addykins? Whatcha thinkin' bout?" Sirius asked as they made the long walk through the secret tunnel to Hogsmeade.

"I'm trying to decide if Blake's school robes would look better pink or purple." She answered honestly.

"Purple. Purple all the way."

"Do you think Mary has hexed him yet?" She asked.

Sirius took a moment to think about this. "Maybe, but I think Remmy definitely has. He was furious."

"I know! I don't think I've ever seen him that angry before! Honestly, seemed more like something you would do." She chuckled.

"Oh believe me. I was furious— still am furious— and fully plan to hex the living daylights out of that prat."

Adelaide chuckled softly, then sighed. "Sirius. What did I do wrong?" She asked earnestly.

Sirius stopped mid step and rounded to face her. "You didn't do anything wrong Ads. I don't know why that idiot wouldn't let you on the team, unless it was for some stupid personal reason. You were leagues better than Blair or Jack, and Wood is going to regret his choice come the first game, if he hasn't already."

"I suppose you're right." She shrugged.

The two made their way to Honeyduke's, grabbing some of the sour sugar quills, which the manager (whom had become a good friend of theirs over the course of the last year when they sneaked out regularly) gave to her for free when he saw that she was feeling sad.

Next they trotted off to the three broomsticks and chatted with the young landlady, Madam Rosemerta, a curvy girl in her twenties with a pretty face.

"What's got you down sweetie?" the landlady asked, not at all surprised to see the two out of class on a Wednesday morning at this point.

"Addykins didn't make the Quidditch team when she out flew everyone at trials." Sirius said glumly.

"I mean I'm still on the team, I'm just an alternate." she clarified with a shrug.

Rosmerta gave her a sympathetic smile. "Here, how about I get you two a couple of Butterbeers on the house." she said, trying to cheer up the two pouting third years. Sirius and Adelaide thanked her profusely, then sat in a booth in the corner of the pub to sip on their drinks before heading back for their third period class.

They were just about finished, when they heard a familiar voice call out, "Little Porskoff?! Is that you?"

Sirius and Adelaide whipped their heads to face the two grinning gingers walking their way. "It is! Now what are you two doing out of class?!" Fabian reprimanded mockingly.

"Tisk tisk, quite the little delinquents…" Gideon chimed in with a grin. "Reminds me of us a bit." he said, sounding almost nostalgic as he looked over to his brother.

"Fabian! Gideon! What are you two doing here?" Sirius asked with a wide grin.

The two shared looks. "Erm… Just in town for a um… a meeting… later this afternoon." Gideon said awkwardly, "But the better question is why are you two here."

Adelaide slumped down a little in her seat. Sirius looked over to her with a frown, then explained the whole story of how she should have made the team.

"That prat!" Fabian exclaimed.

"You know what Fabe. I think we need to have some words with ol' Minnie after The Order— um… I mean, after our erm… meeting… here in town… where our meeting definitely is…" Gideon finished with an awkward cough.

Adelaide and Sirius gave him suspicious looks. They could spot a bad liar a mile away.

"Well, we really should be off anyway— Adelaide here needs to make it back in time for her Ancient Runes class— she has a very important prank to attend to." Sirius said with a smirk.

"Yeah, we really should head out too." Fabian sighed. "But Little Porskoff, don't let that idiot get you down. I can tell you from experience, one of the best ways to irritate someone is to kill them with kindness." he smirked.

"Throws them all off guard— it also makes the guilt ten times worse." added Gideon with an identical smirk. "But, hexing them is always a good alternative as well."

Adelaide pondered their words the whole walk back to the school, and all during her ancient Runes class. Kill him with kindness…

When she finally was making the walk to lunch, she saw Blake Wood talking with new keeper, sixth year, Bartley McLaggen, and chaser, fourth year, Jack Middleton in the corridor.

"Um… Blake… can I um… talk to you for a moment?" she said trying to sound confident, but failing miserably.

The handsome fifth year (who smelled strongly of stink pellets) turned to see the blonde girl fiddling with the hem of her sleeve. "If you're here to hex me, you should know those two tall friends of yours already beat you to it." he said in a stiff voice, rubbing his head without thinking.

"Oh… um… I actually I wanted to thank you." she said sincerely.

Blake looked at her in disbelief, while the other two boys looked on with curiosity. "For what?!"

Adelaide took a deep steadying breath, then recited the words she had rehearsed over and over all through Ancient Runes, when she was trying to tune out Professor Babbling's babbling. "I wanted to thank you for letting me on the team... even if it's as an alternate." she said quietly, trying to hide her disappointment. "I was really worried I wouldn't make it on the team at all," she said sincerely. "and I'm really excited to start the season."

Jack looked at her, brown eyes soft and full of admiration.

"Y-your welcome." Blake stuttered out in disbelief. "Practice starts this next Sunday…"

Adelaide nodded, quietly pleased with how off footed he seemed, then made her way to the great hall. She spotted Sirius and Remus and quickly made her way to sit between them.

"So, Remmy, I heard someone hexed Wood already…" she began.

Remus smirked and nodded quietly. "Mary and I ran into him after breakfast."

She smirked back, and was just about to tell the boys about her own encounter with the idiot captain when she was interrupted by a rather annoying voice.

"I heard wittle Princess Fawley here didn't make the team." sneered Avery from behind her.

Adelaide clutched her soup spoon a little tighter.

Wilkes tutted. "Such a disappointment. Mummy and Daddy will not be happy to hear about this…"

"I suppose you really _can't_ buy talent…" Muciber added cooly.

"Would you just shut up?" Remus moaned. "Go bother someone who gives a shit."

"Merlin! Language Lupin!" exclaimed Mulciber in mock offense as the other two laughed.

Sirius turned to face the three boys as James stood up from across the table. "Leave now or I will personally hex all three of you right here." Sirius growled.

Avery grinned maliciously. "We were only coming to give our condolences." he said annoyingly, heading back to the Slytherin table. "I'd say 'see you at the game', Fawley… but I suppose I won't…" he cackled, loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Don't listen to those idiots Ads. Everyone knows their only saying that stuff to get a rise out of you." Peter said quietly from across the table.

Later that day at dinner, after a lovely nap during History of Magic, Adelaide walked into the great hall to see that there was quite an uproar at the Gryffindor table. First there was a crowd laughing at a boy who's skin and robes were both a violent and shimmering shade of purple. He also had a gigantic glowing sign levitating above him that said " **Warning: Dung Brained Idiot** ".

But then there were others who seemed to be arguing quite passionately about something or another with Professor McGonagall.

"What in the world…" Adelaide muttered to herself, walking slowly towards the chaos, scanning the table to find her friends.

"Ugh. Of course spoiled little Pureblood Princess whined to get herself put on the team." scoffed a sour fourth year girl Adelaide recognized as Natalie O'Neill, who obviously didn't realize Adelaide was standing nearby.

"I mean did you see her at trials though Nat? She didn't miss a single shot!" defended a brunette with a thick Scottish accent.

"But Blair! You made the team! They can't just take you off the team after they already said you were on it!" Natalie fired back.

Adelaide's heart began pounding in her chest. She must have misheard them right? Surely this was a mistake. She wasn't even really looking for her friends anymore, she was just stalling as she listened closer.

"Natalie! I already told you I was going to quit the team anyway so she could have my spot. She deserves it."

"But it was your spot—"

"Let's just drop it Nat. Let me eat my dang mashed potatoes in peace!" Blair said grumpily.

Adelaide was sure she had just misunderstood them.

"ADDYKINS!" squealed a boy with bright grey eyes picking her up in a big hug. "They made you Chaser Ads!"

Natalie turned around, red faced with embarrassment as she realized Adelaide was standing right behind her.

"W-What? How?"

"Minnie— she made Blake change the roster! Blair's the alternate! Everyone's furious, but they'll get over it when they see you demolish Slytherin next month." he said easily.

"B-but… But I was okay with being alternate. I told Wood…"

"Huh?"

"Nevermind… what— why did McGonagall…"

Sirius leaned in closer to whisper. "The Prewett's talked to her… told her the whole story. She's way too competitive to let someone as good as you get booted off the team just because Blake has some weird thing against you." he smirked.


	53. Chapter 53

**Chapter 53- Fawning Over Fawley**

As the weeks of October dragged on, the animosity toward Adelaide's newly appointed position as Chaser only increased amongst the Gryffindors who were not actually apart of the team. She was accused multiple times of 'whining her way to the team' and of being a 'spoiled brat, who probably had her Pureblood Royalty parents demand the switch'. Of course, those accusers were swiftly, mysteriously, and brutally pranked after the allegations made it to the ears of the Marauder boys. Mary had even received detention for calling out a sassy Ravenclaw during Muggle Studies.

Adelaide's relationship with Evan and Regulus also became more strained over these few weeks. She would still sit with them over the weekends, but it was becoming more and more apparent that she was not welcome at the Slytherin table. Evan, Wilkes, and Muciber relentlessly taunted her, but conveniently, only when the other two Slytherin's weren't around... If Regulus had known the extent of their merciless teasing, there was a good chance they would be on the receiving end of a fwooper song.

Classes also became more and more of a struggle for Adelaide. Yes, she was exceptionally bright, and unnaturally gifted in magic, but writing essays, taking tests, and doing homework worksheets were just not her thing. She would put off her assignments until the very last minute, then speed through them just to say they were done... earning her low marks, and many a disapproving look from Lily Evans.

Quidditch practice however, was going quite well. Blake generally avoided speaking to her if he didn't have to, and the rest of the team could see that she was humble and the right person for the position. Jack Middleton, the other chaser, had made sure that everyone on the team knew how she had thanked Blake before the switch, and always stuck up for her when he heard people speaking ill of her on and off the pitch.

"Hey that was a nice Reverse Pass you did back there!" Jack said with a smile, walking to catch up with Adelaide, as she headed back to the castle after practice one day in mid October.

Adelaide turned to face the fourth year boy. He was taller than her (which wasn't much a feat), but shorter than James, had dark blonde hair, brown eyes the color of chocolate, and a somewhat crooked nose that looked like it had been broken a few times.

"Oh! Thanks! James and I were working on them last week outside of practice." she said with a chuckle.

Jack smiled back for a moment, as if he forgot what he was going to say, but quickly recovered. "Um, so do you have a favorite Quidditch Team?"

"Hollyhead Harpies." she said instantly with a smirk. "My best friend Mary and I are obsessed." she giggled.

"Mary McDonald? The one that's going to commentate the game with that Black fellow you're friends with?"

"Yep! That's the one!"

"Well you both have excellent taste in quidditch teams." he chuckled. "I'm a big Pride of Portree fan myself though." he shrugged.

"Oh, they're pretty good too! Catriona McCormack is _amazing_ from what I've read!" she gushed.

Jack's face lit up. "She is! I went to a game over the summer with my uncle and got to see her play— "

"YOU DID NOT!"

Jack laughed at her enthusiasm. "I did! She was bloody brilliant!"

"I'm so insanely jealous right now, it's not even funny." she said solemnly.

"Well my uncle has season tickets, maybe you can come with me some time?" he said casually.

"REALLY?!" she asked in shock and excitement.

Jack laughed once again. "Really!" he said, imitating her tone of voice.

"You're alright, you know that Jack?" Adelaide said, giving him a pat on the back as they reached the school, not noticing how his face flushed a bit.

"Well that's quite the complement coming from you." he said with a half smile.

Adelaide looked up to him quizzically. "So, do you like doing anything other than playing quidditch?" she asked.

He shrugged. "I like to cook, but you can't really do much of that here."

Adelaide nodded thoughtfully... not knowing what to say. She herself had never cooked anything in her whole life, unless you count tea. Between Mimsy, and the house elves at school, she never really had to.

"What about you? Do you have any hobbies beyond pranking and Quidditch?" he asked with a grin.

Adelaide chuckled. "I like to read... and I draw a bit, but mostly during class, or when I'm bored." she said sheepishly.

"What do you draw?" he asked curiously, as they began to climb the stairs up toward Gryffindor tower.

"Well, I started with animals, but I like drawing flowers and stuff too... I have this big garden back home with more flowers than you would believe was possible!" she said with a bright far off look in her eye, that Jack noticed dimmed the more she thought about it.

"I'd love to see one of your drawing some time." he said quietly as they reached the common room. Adelaide looked back and smiled, noticing how lovely his brown eyes really were for the first time.

She was aggressively yanked out of these thoughts by the sight of Lily Evans staring her down with an Arithmancy book in her hand. "Erm... I'd love to stay and chat Jack, but I really need to find a place to hide." she said quickly, turning on her heal and running out of the common room as Lily began to chase after her.

Jack chuckled, then went to sit on the common room couch by one of his dorm mates, unaware of the glares he was receiving from both Sirius Black and Remus Lupin.

Over the next week Jack and Adelaide would chat everyday after practice as they walked back to the common room, and every time, either Sirius or Remus would watch them return with subtle looks of loathing, but never sharing a word with the dark blonde fourth year.

But on one night, the day before Halloween, days before the first quidditch match, and a week or so before the first hogsmeade weekend, while Adelaide was upstairs to shower, Jack made his way toward the two marauders.

"Hello Mates!" he said happily. "You're friends with Adelaide, right?"

"Yes." Sirius replied thickly.

"Oh, um well I was wondering, she's not going to Hogsmeade with anyone next week, is she?"

"She is." Sirius answered instantly, and quite sharply.

"She's going with us." Remus added.

"Well that's just as friends, I meant... does she have a date?"

"She's not going on a date with you, if that's what you are insinuating." Sirius spat.

Jack blinked. "I'm sorry, have I done something to offend you?" he asked genuinely.

"It's really more the fact that you exist." Sirius said cooly. He knew the moment the words left his mouth that they were the wrong words to say.

"Excuse me?!"

"Why don't you just go find another girl to ask..." Remus said calmly.

Jack was appalled.

"Adelaide really isn't in your league anyway." Sirius added nastily.

" _Isn't in my league?!"_ Jack repeated incredulously. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"It means, she's too good for you." Sirius said plainly.

Jack just looked at him in shock. He had heard Adelaide talk about how wonderful and kind her friends were, but the two jerks in front of him were anything _but_ wonderful or kind.

"Oh! Hey! I didn't know you all were friends!" Adelaide said with a grin, skipping into the room with wet hair, sweatpants and an old Beatles t-shirt Remus gave her a while back.

Sirius's cold demeanor melted the moment he looked into her forest green eyes, a lazy smile instantly adorning his lips. Meanwhile, Remus ignored the whole situation, as well as the annoyance he felt seeing Adelaide look at Sirius the way she always did, by going back to reading his book,

"Hey Addykins! How was practice?" Sirius asked warmly to the girl, as she gave him a quick hug and plopped down on the couch beside him. Jack looked on in shock that this was the same person whom he had just been speaking to.

"It was great! We finally nailed the Porskoff Ploy!" she said brightly, "I'm so excited for the game! Aren't you Jack?"

Jack looked mystified.

"Erm... You okay Jack?" Adelaide asked.

"Yeah. I'm fine. I just... I'm really tired. I'm just going to head up to bed early tonight." Jack said a bit distractedly.

"Yeah, me too Ads." Remus said, closing his book. Jack looked worried.

"Oh... well alright..." she said suspiciously. She then turned to Sirius."Padfoot, we really need to work on our Halloween costumes!"

"Of course, love!" he said, eyes never leaving hers, completely ignoring the annoyed look he was receiving from Jack Middleton.

Once Remus was quite sure he and Jack were out of earshot of anyone in the common room, he cleared his throat. "Um. Jack. There's something you need to know."

"What? I thought we pretty much covered everything back there?" Jack said defensively.

Remus sighed. "Sirius really isn't a bad guy, and I doubt he really meant any of the rude stuff he said. He's just really protective over Addy."

"Yeah, you all are—" Jack began.

"I mean, yes, of course! But with Sirius it's a little different. There's a lot of stuff you don't know about... Their families are really close, and they've always looked out for one another... He's had to watch her go through so much... He just has a hard time trusting people he doesn't know when it comes to her." he finished.

Jack furrowed his eyebrows. "Is he going to prank me because of this?"

Remus rolled his eyes and smirked. "Just ask someone else to Hogsmeade, Jack." he said, leaving to go up to the boys dorm.

Meanwhile, Adelaide and Sirius sat huddled around a piece of parchment, trying to plan out their outfits for the Halloween party in the common room the next night after the feast. "I think you should be the cat!" she giggled, drawing cat ears on the paper beside his name.

"What?! No! I want to be the wolf or something!" he complained, having a hard time not smiling.

"No, no, no! You need to be the cat!" she proclaimed.

Sirius muttered a few choice words under his breath, but didn't actually refute her plan. "Well what about you? You going to be a mouse or something?"

"A MOUSE?! NO!" she said dramatically, earning a few annoyed looks from the second year girls mooning after Sirius. "I was going to be either the wolf or the deer."

"Deer. Definitely deer." Sirius said quickly. He really didn't like the idea of her being the wolf . "We can do that antler jinx on you! James has gotten way better at it!"

Adelaide squealed in excitement. "YES! I love it!" she said looking into Sirius's bright grey eyes for just a bit longer than entirely necessary, stomach twisting into knots for a brief moment.

Sirius blinked a few times as she looked away. He licked his lips and cleared his throat as he looked down quickly at the parchment, drawing a stick figure Adelaide with little antlers growing out her head.

"What are you drawing on the antlers?" Adelaide asked curiously.

"Well that's a bow, and that's Dorris." he said pointing to the two items on her stick figure.

"No, I think Dorris needs her own costume." she said with a giggle.

"I'd say we could give her antlers too, but I think we traumatized her enough with that spell last year." he chuckled.

* * *

The next day, Adelaide made her way happily to the boys dorm, wearing the cute little deer costume Mary and Lily had helped her put together after dinner.

Jack was making his way down the boy's staircase as she made her way up.

"Oh... Um... hey Adelaide! You- you look really nice." he said with a nervous chuckle.

Adelaide's face turned bright red. "Um... Thank you." she said shyly.

"You're welcome... I um... I'm sorry, but I really have to go... I'm meeting Natalie downstairs..."

"Natalie?" Adelaide asked curiously. She didn't realize he was even friends with Natalie.

"Yeah, um... Natalie O'Neill... She's my date for the party."

"Oh. Well, have fun..." she said as he walked past her hurriedly.

Adelaide walked into the boys dorm a little confused as to Jack's sudden awkwardness, but brushed it off, attributing it as nerves for his date.

Sirius watched her stand in the doorway, face painted adorably to look just like a baby deer, and her brown dress fitting her absolutely _perfectly_. He gulped.

"Sirius, are you okay?" Adelaide asked, giving him a funny look. "You look a little sick?"

"I-I'm fine." he lied.

Adelaide frowned. She knew he was lying.

"Addy _Deer!_ You look great!" James exclaimed wearing a wolf costume. "Fawn Fawley! I love it!" he laughed. "Come in here so I can do the antler thing on you!" he said dragging her into the bathroom.

Adelaide hesitated, looking over at Sirius, who still seemed a little off, but followed after James. "Oh Prongsy! I need to paint your face!" she giggled.

"Antlers first, 'man make-up' second." James said sternly.

It took a few tries, but eventually James got her antlers to a small subtle size, big enough that you could tell what she was, but not too big that they would bug her all night. She then sat him down to start painting his nose.

"Stop twitching!" she scolded with a laugh.

"It tickles!" James defended.

Adelaide rolled her eyes and continued to paint the rest of his face. "Is Sirius alright? He seemed a little off when I walked in..."

"Oh?"

"He just looked at me all weird..."

James shrugged, earning him an annoyed thwack from Adelaide. "Probably just ' _admiring your beauty'_." he smirked.

Adelaide turned bright red, clearly visible even despite the make up, and muttered a "shut it."

"Oh Merlin, don't blush! That'll only make it worse!" he moaned.

"Make what worse?"

James looked like he was about to say something, but stopped himself. "Nothing."

"Liar." she said under her breath. After a couple of whiskers and a tooth charm to make James's K9's a little longer, she sent him off. "Alright! Who's next!?" she called.

She then painted a mouse face on Remus, and a dog face for Peter, then finally called out for Sirius.

"Come on Pads! You're next!" she said brightly, waving him into the bathroom.

Sirius wanted very much to avoid having Adelaide that close to his face, but he couldn't back out of it. The face paint was his idea in the first place.

He slowly made his way into the bathroom, and sat down on a little stool she had set up beside the counter, where she had set out all sorts of artistic utensils he did not understand.

Adelaide smirked. "I get to make you a cat. Do you know how long I've been waiting for this day?"

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Just get it over with." he said with a smile.

Sirius couldn't help but admire how gently and carefully Adelaide painted each part of his face. He tried to not think about how very close her face was to his own, or how her breath felt mingling with his, how soft her lips looked, especially when she pouted as she tried to focus... he shook his head a little to clear away his thoughts.

"Stop moving!" she said, putting her hands on either side of his face to keep him still.

Sirius blushed.

"Sirius, you're burning up, are you sure you aren't sick?"

"I'm fine. It's just hot in here." he said blinking a few times and licking his lips as Adelaide's eyes looked into his own. They always had this weird ability to make him feel calm and grounded... but right now they made his heart race. He was still hyper aware of the fact that her soft delicate hands where holding his face, and the way she smelled like vanilla and lavender, and how neither one of them was making any effort to look away...

"Ads! Hurry up!" Remus called sharply through the door, "We're literally just waiting for you two at this point. Peter keeps whining about how they're going to run out of fudge flies before we get there."

Adelaide and Sirius both jumped, and Adelaide gave out a little squeak and blushed. "Almost done Moons!" she called, a feeling thoroughly flustered.

She quickly finished up Sirius's make up and headed downstairs with the boys, trying to fight off the butterflies in her stomach.


	54. Chapter 54

**Chapter 54- Knock Um Dead**

"I didn't realize Sirius was friends with Marlene?" Adelaide commented with her brows furrowed, taking a big bite of her oatmeal.

Mary's head whipped around, mouth full of toast, toward the honey blonde currently sitting with Adelaide's curly headed best friend. They seemed to be in a rather intense, hushed conversation at the end of the Gryffindor table. Mary frowned. "Me neither."

Adelaide pouted, taking a forceful swig of her pumpkin juice.

Evan watched the two in amusement. "So, you excited for your first game Ads?"

Adelaide moaned, flopping her head into her arms atop the Slytherin table.

"She's a little nervous..." Mary said in a loud whisper.

Evan nodded, knowing full well he would probably be a stuttering mess if he tried to talk to the beautiful brunette in front of him.

Regulus smirked. "I mean... she _is_ going up against the _best_ team…" he teased, taking a bite of his eggs.

Adelaide's head popped up, hair going every which way, eyes narrowed. "You take that back." she growled.

Evan raised his eyebrows. He still had a hard time knowing when she was joking. Regulus, however, chuckled from where he sat across from her. "Nope!" he grinned cheekily. "But, I will say, you and James are the only real threats to our chances of winning."

Adelaide smiled, and reached across the table, trying to ruffle his hair. "Hold still Reggie!" she giggled whist the tall, grey eyed, second year tried to move far enough away from her, laughing.

"Aw, aren't you two cute." sneered a pompous voice.

"Shut it, Avery." Mary snapped.

"Oh hello there McDonald, I didn't know you had a thing for snakes as well..." Mulciber purred, making Mary shiver in disgust. "Good to know..."

Evan stood up and stared down the two idiot third years. "Leave her alone or I will make sure the whole school knows about—"

"Oh don't get your knickers in a twist Rosier, we were only having a bit of fun." Mulciber said quickly, cutting him off, obviously rattled by whatever Evan was about to say.

"Well then go have 'fun' someplace else." Regulus drawled coldly, doing that thing where he sounded eerily like Orion Black.

Avery gave them both a contemptuous look, but dragged his friend to sit back down.

Mary looked over at Evan. "What kind of dirt do you have on those idiots?!" she asked in astonishment. "We haven't been able to get them to leave us alone for weeks!"

Evan tried to stutter out an answer, but was failing miserably. Meanwhile, Regulus looked quite upset. "Addy, why didn't you tell me they've been bothering you?"

Adelaide shrugged. "I didn't think it was that big of a deal."

Regulus took a steadying breath. "Tell me next time, okay Ads?"

Adelaide wasn't sure why Regulus was getting so upset about this, it's not like they were the only ones teasing and annoying her— but she agreed to let him know regardless.

After breakfast Adelaide and James trotted down to the changing rooms at the pitch.

"Why was Sirius talking to Marlene this morning?" Adelaide asked in a would-be-casual way as they walked through the grass, wrapping her scarf a bit closer to her in the chilly November air.

James shrugged, "I think they're partners or something in Divination." he said, mind clearly somewhere else. "Is Lily coming to the game?"

Adelaide smirked, eyes catching on some rustling shrub in the distance before landing on her love sick best friend. "Yes, yes she is."

James's spirits seemed to brighten given this information, then quickly dampened once more. "She isn't really going to go with Gudgeon to Hogsmeade, is she?"

"Honestly Prongsy, I have no ide— Did you see that?!" she exclaimed, pointing toward another rustling shrub a few meters away.

"See what?" James asked, looking bemused.

"I thought I saw... Nevermind... I think my nerves are just playing tricks on me." she laughed. "Anyways, I don't know for certain, but I don't really think he's her type."

James frowned. "Lily has a _type_?"

"Well... I mean... not _officially_ — but she's too put together to go for some idiot like him."

James hummed, deep in thought.

Adelaide suddenly saw yet another shrub jostle, as if something, or someone, was hiding within or behind it. "Prongs! Please tell me you saw that!"

"Ads, I don't know what you're talking about." James said slowly, starting to get a little worried.

"The bush! It moved! I swear I saw something— someone— behind it!"

"It was probably just some weird animal that got loose from Care of Magical Creat— Sweet Merlin! What the hell was that?!"

Adelaide squinted her eyes, moving closer toward the bush, and saw a flash of electric blue— then it was gone.

She and James shared a worried look. "Let's just get to the pitch before whatever that was comes back." James said dragging her away. "Normally I'd be all for exploring weird foliage with you Ads, but we have more important matters to attend to at the present moment."

Adelaide nearly tripped as he pulled her arm back toward the path. "Oh yes, very important matters, such as impressing Lily Evans." she smirked. James tugged a little harder causing her to nearly trip again.

"Whatever, I'm sure you want to impress that mysterious bloke you fancy as well." he smirked.

Adelaide looked at him in open-mouthed astonishment and betrayal. "WE SAID WE WOULD NEVER SPEAK OF THAT!"

"You brought up Lily! It was fair game!" he laughed. "Are you ever going to tell me who it is?"

"No."

"Is it Dorris?"

She rolled her eyes. "oh Shut up."

"Is it Reg—"

"Stop it."

"Is it Jack?"

"Stop! I mean it!"

"Is it Rem—"

"I told you to knock it off!"

"Merlin, it's not me is it?"

"GODRIC NO!"

"I bet it's Siri— OW!"

She smirked as James rubbed the spot where she had hit him on the back of the head. "I told you to stop."

* * *

"Okay team, we've been training for this day for ages! Just try not to lose your cool out there, no matter what those snakes throw at us!" Blake Wood said, pacing in the changing room, flashing a quick look to Adelaide. "We have a smashing good team, and we can win this thing! SO LET'S GO OUT THERE AND SHOW THE SCHOOL WHAT WE'RE BLOODY MADE OF!" he roared. Adelaide stifled a giggle at his melodrama, then finished strapping on her gloves.

"Um... Adelaide... Can I um... Talk to you in private for a second before we head out?" Blake said, looking a little jumpy, eyes flashing over to Blair, then to James.

Adelaide looked at him in disbelief, but agreed and went off with him into the corner of the room. "What's up Wood?"

"I know this is bloody awful timing, but I wanted to say I'm sorry for not putting you on the team initially." he said, letting out a breath as if a giant weight had been lifted from his chest.

"W-what?"

"I completely misjudged you LP," he said sincerely, referring to her by her quidditch nickname, Little Porskoff (LP). "I was a big idiot and listened to all the rumors about you, and didn't even give you a chance. I thought the only reason you were trying out was to run off and tell the Slytherin's all our secret plays... But then I saw you play, and there was no way I could get away with booting you off the team completely... But I've seen how hard you work during practice— how supportive you are of everyone on the team— You are truly a great flyer and a great teammate, and we are lucky to have you. So you go out there, and you kill it, okay?" he finished with a grin, nudging her shoulder.

Adelaide was practically glowing. "Will do captain!" she grinned back.

The team headed onto the pitch just as a light flurry of snow began to dust over the grounds. Adelaide immediately spotted Remus and Peter in the crowd holding a large " **GO GRYFFINDOR** " banner, sporting red and gold crocheted scarfs hand made by Moony himself. Her eyes then scanned upwards for the announcers box, where she saw Sirius grinning, and giving her a thumbs up, while Mary screamed "KNOCK UM DEAD ADDY!" loud enough to be heard without the enchanted voice magnifier.

Adelaide's eyes then caught a glimpse of electric blue...

"ADDY! WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT!? GET IN POSITION!" James said in a panicked voice. Adelaide quickly ran to where she was supposed to be and half listened as Sirius and Mary listed out the players.

"Now for your Gryffindor Chasers! James Potter, Jack Middleton, and the lovely and beautiful—"

"McDonald..." McGonagall warned.

"You forgot frighteningly brilliant and talented—"

"Black!"

"Adelaide Fawley!"

There was a mixed reaction to say the least. Half the stands (including Gryffindors) booed... loudly... the other half, mostly Slytherins, cheered riotously.

Adelaide felt a sinking feeling in her stomach, but willed herself to breathe... to just breathe and think of Gwendolyn Morgan. Embracing the bad ass chaser within..

The whistle blew and she shot up through the air like a rocket grabbing hold of the Quaffle instantly, then weaving in and out of the opposing chasers quicker than a bullet. She zig-zagged, narrowly missing a bludger that came wizzing her way, then continued to zoom toward the Slytherin hoop.

Her eyes focused on the goal, and suddenly the chaos and screaming from all around disappeared— it was just her, the ball, and the goal— she threw the Quaffle and—

"FAWLEY SCORES! TEN POINTS TO GRYFFINDOR!" screamed Sirius proudly as Mary jumped up and down hugging Minnie.

An hour later, the snitch still hadn't been caught.

"Fawley scores again! Gryffindor leads— 300 to 250" Mary said.

Adelaide flew past the perimeter, lining up to fly a formation route with James when she saw something high in the stands, that nearly knocked the wind out of her lungs in shock. It couldn't be... Not here... Not now...

Adelaide's concentration was compromised; her nerves of steal reduced to nothing more than flimsy aluminum.

"ADS! GET IN POSITION! ADDY!" James screamed. Adelaide quickly moved into her spot.

Jack charged the Slytherin Chaser, knocking the Quaffle out of his hands— throwing it to Adelaide. "Ads! Your shot!"

"NO! YOU TAKE IT!" she screamed, tossing it back to him.

"ADS ITS YOURS!" James bellowed

"NO!" she protested. "JACK, JUST TAKE IT!"

Jack lined up to throw... a miss.

James flew over to her. "Adelaide! That was your shot! Why didn't you take it?!"

"I would have missed it." she said quickly.

James could tell something was very wrong. She was white as a sheet, jumpy, distracted... "Addy! What's wrong!?"

"They're here James."

"WHO?!"

"My parents... and Riddle."

"GRYFFINDOR SEEKER, FINLAY BELL HAS SEEN THE SNITCH! SHE'S AFTER IT FOLKS!" Mary squealed.

"NARROW MISS FROM THAT BLUDGER, BUT SHE'S GOING AFTER IT, THERE'S NOTHING STANDING IN HER WAY!"

Adelaide suddenly felt a sharp pain radiating from somewhere deep in her mind. She cried out in pain, instinctively holding her hands to her head.

"Addy?! Addy! Addy hang on to your broom!" Jack called out desperately as Adelaide began to tumble from the sky.

"SHE'S ALMOST GOT IT— ADDYKINS! NO! ADDYKINS GRAB YOUR BROOM! SOMEONE HELP HER!" Sirius screamed desperately.

Adelaide held on to the broom, pulling her self back up— pain dulled, when it hit again. She cried out in pain once again, free falling through the air, broom out of reach— but hands too preoccupied with applying pressure to the insurmountable throbbing pain radiating from within her skull. James and Jack tried to fly toward her to catch her, but she was too far...

"ADDYKINS! NO!" Sirius shrieked.

Adelaide fell to the ground with a hard _flump_. Body still. Limbs pointed awkwardly in unnatural directions. Unconscious.

Finlay caught the snitch, and Gryffindor won the game, but no one seemed to notice.

Mary was hysterically crying, hanging onto Minnie for support. James, Remus, Peter, and Regulus rushed the field surrounding her, not letting any other students near her. Sirius collapsed onto the cold snowy ground at her side, gently brushing the hair from her face, and furiously wiping away tears with his sleeve.

"Addykins... It's going to be okay, love... Poppy is going to fix you and you're going to be okay..." he said softly, leaning close beside her, still stroking her hair and stifling back sobs as he waited for Poppy. "Addykins... You have to be okay... you h-have to hang in there, love…"

The matron bustled toward the eerily still girl. Sirius could hear her sharp intake of breath upon seeing just how broken and mangled she really was.

"P-POPPY! YOU HAVE TO F-FIX HER!" Sirius cried out desperately through his tears.


	55. Chapter 55

**Chapter 55- I Promise**

"That bastard nearly killed our daughter!" Cathryn Fawley shouted, face looking more hawk-like than ever as she stormed through Fawley Manor.

"Cathy..." Filip warned.

"NO FILIP! HE NEARLY KILLED HER! If Mimsy hadn't been there... Filip she would be _dead! Dead, just like—_ " Cathryn's breath caught in her throat. "FilipI can't go through that again…I won't." she said slowly, shutting her eyes tightly in an effort to silence the painful memories.

"I know." Filip said calmly.

"And this was all for what?! So he could make some ridiculous point?! So he could test how strong she really was!? She's thirteen! Did he really expect her to just whip out wandless magic right there in the middle of the bloody game?! You know, I doubt he would have cared at all if she died. I thought he might, since he has some weird obsession with her— but he was prepared to let her die right there _in front of us_ Filip! He knows what happened to—" her breath caught again... then she let out a loud cry of anguish and anger. "Filip you _know_ what Tom does to those who go against him... And we _both_ know Adelaide is too stubborn to ever work with him willingly, especially not now that she's become infatuated with that— that _blood traitor._ "

"I know...and I promise, we will keep her alive, Cathy." Filip said, moving to hold his distraught wife. "I promise."

* * *

It was late when Sirius sat in the wooden chair within the darkly lit room, doing Adelaide's potion's essay. He was half-way through explaining the key ingredients to the Antidote to Uncommon Poison when he heard bells chiming in the distance.

It was November 3rd.

He was officially 14.

Normally, he would be excited. Normally he would have wanted a party— some dramatic display that would act as a salve over the hurt he felt knowing his parents didn't care— but this year, all he wanted was Adelaide to wake up. All he really wanted was to hug her and hear her laugh.

He looked over at her delicate and deeply bruised face, her limbs forced back into their proper position with casts and slings. Poppy was very good at her job, but there was hardly a part of her inside or out that went unscathed; hardly a bone in her body that hadn't been broken, crushed, or cracked. It was a miracle that she even survived a fall like that at all.

He brushed aside the pale blonde hair that had fallen into her face and felt a heavy guilt set in.

He was supposed to protect her, and he failed.

Once again, he thought to himself, Sirius Black has managed to be the world's biggest disappointment.

He was jerked out of his self-pity by a small 'Pop!' that caused him to drop the quill in his hand out of surprise.

"Happy Birthday Sirius Orion Black The Third," squeaked a voice. Sirius, who was bending over to retrieve the quill, looked up to see a pair of gigantic electric blue eyes looking back at him.

"M-mimsy?" he croaked out. Voice tired and hoarse from crying and screaming. She nodded aggressively, bat like ears flopping around wildly. "What are you doing here?"

Mimsy looked over to Adelaide, gigantic eyes welling up with tears. "Mimsy cames to check on Miss Adelaide... and to give Sirius Orion Black the Third his birthday present."

"Give me a— wait, how did you even know she was hurt?"

Mimsy's tears overflowed and she began to sob loudly.

"M-mimsy knew T-Tom R-r-r-riddle was going to h-h-hurt her! M-mimsy tried t-to s-save M-miss Adelaide!"

Sirius grabbed some tissues from Adelaide's bed-side-table handing them to the distraught house elf, brain whirling with questions. "What do you mean you knew he was going to hurt her? How did you save her?"

Mimsy opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Sirius realized she must have been ordered not to say anything.

"Mimsy, just tell me what you can, okay?"

"Master and Misses Fawley were with Mister Riddle at the— to talk about the—. But Mimsy heard Riddle talking to— when Master and Misses Fawley weren'ts around... He didn't notice Mimsy refilling his drink. Mimsy knew he would try to hurts Miss Adelaide at the game... But Mimsy never imagined Miss Adelaide would falls off her b-b-broom." she blew her nose. "Mimsy used her magic to watch over Miss Adelaide in bushes and under the s-stands. Mimsy tried to slow her down..."

Sirius just stared at the Elf who saved his best friend's life as she blew her nose and continued to sob. Honestly, he had never really understood Regulus and Adealide's affection for the weird little creatures, but in this moment, it was beginning to become more clear.

Mimsy squeaked as Sirius hugged her fiercely. "Thank you. Thank you for saving her." he said wiping away a stray tear from his own face as he let her go.

"Mimsy loves Miss Adelaide. People are kind to those they love... it would nots have been kind to let T-Tom R-riddle hurt her." she nodded to herself. "Oh!" she yelped suddenly. "I haves Sirius Orion—"

"—Mimsy, you know you can just call me Sirius—"

"—Black the Third's birthday present!" she said, snapping her fingers.

Sirius looked down at the deep red box now sitting in his lap, with a big golden bow wrapped around it, and a tag that said:

 ** _To: Sirius Black, the most hideous and smelly hound to ever walk the Earth_**

 ** _From: Addykins, the most un-sneakiest cat to_** ** _ever attempt to sneak_**

Sirius smiled, looking over at the battered and unconscious girl laying in her hospital bed. He carefully undid the bow, then ripped into the paper excitedly, and opened the box to find a framed magical photo of the 1973 Chudley Cannon's Quidditch team— personally signed by every member. "How... how did you even do this Ads?" he asked the unconscious girl in awe.

"There's more!" Mimsy squeaked.

Sirius looked confused, then lifted the team photo frame, to find a smaller photograph, frame decorated with hand drawn music notes, of him and Adelaide smiling and laughing at the Led Zeppelin concert. He laughed, not even noticing the tears tumbling down his cheeks.

The concert, his Christmas present last year, was a complete _disaster—_ but also one of the most exciting nights of his life. They had snuck out of school through the tunnels to Hogsmeade, then took the knight bus to the venue... where they lasted a whole two songs before being kicked out for being too young to really be there alone— but not before they got an unsuspecting muggle to snap a picture of them. They made it back to school and Minnie gave them detention for a month straight, but it was worth it.

Adelaide could hear the sound of Sirius's bark-like laughter like a beacon in the night. She could practically see his infectious grin in her minds eye... but she wanted to see it in person. Her eyes fluttered open, quickly realizing how much pain she was in. But then she saw the dark haired boy laughing with tears in his eyes, and the pain seemed to dull.

"S-sirius?" She wheezed softly, barely audible at all.

Sirius jumped up in an instant and went to her side, grabbing her already healed hand in his. Mimsy quickly grabbed the photos before they fell onto the stone floor of the infirmary.

"Addykins..." He said softly, stroking the hair framing her face in disbelief. "Y-you're awake."

"Well it was a little difficult to sleep with you barking over there." She joked, trying to smirk, but wincing from the pain of it.

Sirius immediately flew from the room to grab Madam Pomfrey. Adelaide didn't even have time to see Mimsy before the elf disappeared with a quick 'crack!'.

Madam Pomfrey practically sprinted back into the infirmary, carrying all sorts of potions, with Sirius at her heels holding several of his own.

Adelaide groaned, knowing she was in for an assortment of terrible tasting beverages.

"I got you pumpkin juice to wash it down Ads." Sirius chuckled, ecstatic that his birthday wish had come true.

Once all the foul tasting potions had been successfully administered, Madam Pomfrey went off to owl Adelaide's parents and Dumbledore, to update them on her condition.

"Oh… You opened your gift? How did— Mimsy had it— how did you…?" Adelaide wheezed out, utterly flummoxed.

Sirius studied her closely. Obviously he was going to tell her all about how Mimsy basically saved her life, but was this the right time?

Adelaide pouted slightly. "Sirius?"

"Sorry…" he mumbled, deciding it was better to tell her the truth. "Mimsy was here."

Adelaide's face lit up, despite the large purpling bruise covering half her features. "Mimsy was here?"

Sirius sighed, then scooted the wooden chair close to her side, recounting the little chat he had with the house elf as she looked at him with wide eyes.

"I can't believe she would do that for me…"

"She loves you Addy." Sirius said with a half smile. "We both do."

"I could hear you… After I fell…" she said softly. "How are you always so bloody positive during stuff like that? I would have been a complete wreck." she said in a half joking manner.

"I _was_ a wreck Ads." Sirius said honestly. "You obviously didn't hear the whole thing." he laughed. "I screamed at Dumbledore!"

"Barmy old codger probably deserved it for letting in that git Riddle and my parents…" she grumbled.

"He didn't know they were there." he said softly. "What even happened out there?"

"My head hurt… sounds sort of silly when I say it out loud… But Riddle must've been cursing me or doing some Legilimency thing…" she trailed off. Sirius sucked in a breath, about to speak, but Adelaide beat him to it. "I know what you're going to say… you can tell Dumbledore I'll take him up on his stupid offer."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "You know me so well." he chuckled.

"Happy birthday by the way!" she said brightly. "Did you like the gift?"

"Oh Merlin, Ads it was _brilliant!"_ he gushed. "How did you even manage to get them all to sign it?"

Adelaide let out a breathy laugh, wincing slightly. "It wasn't very hard. They don't exactly get a whole lot of fan mail… you know, on account of them being literally the worst team ever." she teased with a small smile.

"They are not the worst!" Sirius defended weakly, smiling back despite himself. "Addykins… I'm just so happy you're going to be okay." he said gazing into her eyes, "When you hit the ground… for a moment I thought… I thought I lost you." he said in almost a whisper, hand unconsciously making it's way into hers.

"Sirius, you will _never_ lose me. I fully plan to live a long and happy life of insulting you until we're both as wrinkly as Dumbledore." she giggled.

Sirius smiled wide. "Promise?"

"I promise." she said, squeezing his hand.


	56. Chapter 56

**Chapter 56- But Why?**

Adelaide awoke the day after her fateful fall to the smell of lavender and lilacs. She smiled to herself, despite the great deal of pain she was still in. Then, her eyes fluttered open to reveal several persons staring at her— causing her to catch her breath in fright. She attempted to jerk the covers up over her head, but with her arms being in casts, it was a little difficult.

"Addy!" Cheered James and Regulus.

"Good Afternoon!" greeted Peter.

Remus gave a breathy chuckle at her reaction then wished her a good afternoon as well.

Adelaide looked over to her side to see Sirius drooling in his sleep with their potions text book laying on top of him awkwardly.

"Will someone please throw Dorris at him?" she asked with a slight smirk.

Regulus immediately grabbed the fluffy ball of purple and pitched it toward his dreaming brother.

"H-Hey! What the hell Reg?" Sirius griped, throwing Dorris back at him whilst Regulus chuckled.

"Thank you Reggie!" Adelaide said sweetly.

Sirius fell out of his bed as he tried to get to her. "Addykins! How're you feeling?"

"Like I fell off of a skyscraper." she said nonchalantly. "Is that all for me?" she asked, looking over at the bedside table filled to the brim with cards, candies, flowers, and a purple stuffed bear holding some balloons.

"Yeah... " Sirius said, looking over at the table, pouting slightly with his brows furrowed.

"Paddy, why don't you take the candy." she said with a smile. "It's your birthday after all."

Sirius's face instantly lit up. "You sure?"

Adelaide chuckled. "Absolutely!"

Sirius immediately began digging through a box of Every Flavor Beans.

"So, um... did we win the game?" She asked with an awkward smile.

Sirius just looked at her and rolled his eyes with a smile. "Yes, love. We won the game."

"Well... at least one good thing happened..." she trailed off eyes drifting back toward the many mementoes upon her hospital nightstand. "Hey, can one of you read me the cards?" she asked.

Remus, gladly jumped at the opportunity and grabbed the stack of cards and letters. "Which one do you want to hear first?"

"Erm... depends... Who are they from?"

"Um... well these all look like they're from Quidditch people... Jack sent you those yellow flowers by the way... um this one is from Lily... and...This is from Dollie—"

Regulus grabbed that particular card and threw it directly into the trash bin.

"— Oh this is from Evan! I think he gave you the bear too. Um... you have a couple letters too... one from Emmeline... one from the Prewetts, and this one from someone named...Rob? Who's Rob?" Remus asked with a slight edge to his voice.

"Oh! Robert Selwyn! He goes to Durmstrang."

"You got a letter from Pugface McGee?" Sirius said contemptuously with his mouth full of one of her Cauldron Cakes.

"Yes?"

"Why?" he spat with his mouth still full.

"I would suppose he wanted to wish me well... you know on account of me being all shattered to bits and all." she responded lazily. Sirius glared at the letter in Remus's hands, grumbling oaths under his breath. Adelaide decided this was not the time to tell Sirius about how they had become pen-pals of sorts for the past few months. "Please go on..."

Remus looked quite upset. "Wait, is he one of the idiots you might have to marry?"

Adelaide flushed slightly. "Yes." she mumbled.

Regulus gave a sideways look at Remus who was now nearly seething and took the letters from his hands. "Next is from... _oh_..." Regulus looked down at the letter with a contemplative look.

"Who is it Reggie?" Adelaide asked curiously.

Regulus frowned, but didn't answer. James peered around in curiosity, features turning quite stern as soon as he read the sender. "Um... I think it's better if we trash this one too..." James said, moving to grab it from Regulus's hands.

"No! Who is it from!?"

"erm... uh... It's from... um... Riddle." James informed her hesitantly.

"WHAT?!" she shrieked.

Regulus's expression abruptly changed from contemplative to worried. "You know Riddle?"

"You mean the lunatic who tried to kill me? Yes, we're practically best mates." she said furiously. "What the hell does he have to say? 'Sorry for not finishing you off'?"

Regulus seemed to ignore her sarcasm. "How do you know Riddle?" he asked, no hint of humor in his voice.

"He tried to tutor her over the summer." Sirius answered. "Tried to read her mind, but she's a bad ass at Occlumency and fought him out."

"What do you mean he _tried_ to tutor her?"

"We had one lesson, but it was cut short before he actually got to teach me anything besides how big of a git he was. Apparently I was lacking in both _respect_ and _restraint_... I believe those are the words he used..." she mused. Regulus's lips were pressed into a thin line and Adelaide suddenly remembered that he was one of Tom's students. "He talked to you too, didn't he?" she said softly.

"Yes." Regulus answered stiffly. "I didn't have much of a choice... But it was mostly him teaching me some useful defensive spells and listening to him go on about 'the importance of purifying the bloodlines' and all that." he shrugged.

Everyone looked rather uncomfortable with the turn in the conversation.

Regulus looked up at Adelaide with confusion masking his boyishly handsome features. "What did you mean by him trying to kill you?"

Adelaide's eyes flashed over to Sirius for a moment. "He um... We think he's the one who caused me to fall..."

"I don't understand— " Regulus said quickly.

Sirius could see in Adelaide's face that she was feeling overwhelmed at the idea of having to recount the traumatic events of the day before, no matter how much she tried to make light of it. "I think it's better if you sit down for this Reg..." he said with a sigh.

Sirius then explained all about how Adelaide saw her parents and Riddle in the stands, how 'Riddle McCreepypants' gave her the head ache, how Mimsy was onto him, and how the elf ultimately saved her life by slowing the fall.

"You're sure your parents were with him?" Regulus asked.

"Yes. They love him— why?"

Regulus shook his head. "They most certainly do not love him." he said in a low voice. "They work with him, but they are not very fond of him. I heard them talking when they came over one night." he explained. "They were absolutely furious that Riddle interfered with their whole marriage plans for you. And your mum nearly lost it when he made them include S—"

"Stop!" Adelaide gasped desperately. "Just stop... Um... boys, can Regulus and I talk in private for a moment?" she asked quickly, though it was really not up for suggestion.

"Sure thing Ads." James said suspiciously, but pulling Peter and Remus out of the room nonetheless.

Sirius sat on the next bed over, still munching on sweets. "You didn't mean me too, did you?!" he asked in disbelief.

"OUT!"

"Okay... Okay... But you do realize you are shouting at the birthday boy..."

"LEAVE."

"Merlin's pants! I'm going!"

Once Sirius was safely away Adelaide addressed Regulus again. "Reggie, be a doll and hand me my wand." Regulus looked a little worried, as if she was going to hex him or something, but handed her the wand anyways. Adelaide quickly cast a muffling charm, all too aware that the boys were probably just outside the door trying to listen in.

"Reggie. Sirius doesn't know."

" _What_? Are you kidding me?! You-you didn't tell him _anything_?!"

"Well not exactly... I sort of lied and said I knew who the family was but not the person."

"UGH! Addy! Why didn't you just tell him?!"

"Have you met your brother? How do you think he'll take it when he finds out he's on the list?"

"I think he'd take the news better than you'd think Ads." Regulus said bitterly. "Besides, he deserves to know! It's his future too!"

"Regardless, I sincerely doubt they will pick him."

"They might..." Regulus refuted.

Adelaide looked unconvinced. "My parents can't stand him. My mother refuses to refer to him by anything besides 'that blood traitor'. I think they would sooner let me marry a muggle-born than set me up with him."

"Addy... I don't think you understand. It may have been their choice at some point... but now it's between them and Riddle. He's more powerful than you think Ads..."

"But why?! Why Sirius?"

"He's talented, essentially pureblood royalty, and just so happens to be your best friend... Riddle want's you both, and he probably thinks that he can win you both over if he lets you get out of marrying someone like pompous Finn Rowel with someone you actually care about."

Adelaide knew this, deep down, but hearing it was still hard. "B-but why not you?"

Regulus flushed a bit. "My loyalty isn't in question... Sirius's is. He probably thinks that if he can get one of you he'll get the other. He's trying to manipulate you."

"But if he wants me so badly, why would he try to kill me at the game?!" she said, voice straining with her volume.

"That, I don't know. But I have a feeling this might clear up a few things." he said lifting up the letter.

Adelaide scrunched her eyes closed. "Just read it." she said in a resigned tone.

Regulus looked at her with sympathy, then opened the letter written in blood red ink and elegant flowing scrawl. He cleared his throat, then read:

 ** _Miss Fawley,_**

 ** _It was no great pleasure to put you, of all people, through such an exquisitely difficult trial. Though, I must say I am impressed with how well you handled yourself. You nearly overcame the curse by merit of your will alone. There are not many who have such strength and presence of mind to achieve this feat._**

 ** _It is my dearest hope that this experience provides you with a better understanding of what life will look like, should you continue on the path of denying your blood and natural superiority. Yes, I have heard of your fraternization with mud-bloods and your nearly reverential regard for half-breeds this school year. I attribute these mistakes to youth and naivety, but an example must be made._**

 ** _This, Miss Fawley, was only a taste of the horrors that befall those who choose to go against me. I do hope you shall make the right decision to put your faith and loyalty in me alone. For I alone am able to protect you and Mr. Black from the dark and wicked dangers that lurk in the shadows._**

 ** _Best wishes for a full and expedient recovery,_**

 ** _Mr. Riddle_**

Adelaide scowled. "That bastard." she growled.

"Addy... What are you going to do?" Regulus asked, clearly shaken from the letter.

What was she supposed to do? The Gryffindor within her said that she should rip up the letter and boldly go against that murderous lunatic regardless of the consequences. But there was another part of her that knew Riddle did not make empty threats, and that he would most certainly hurt the ones she cared about if she did not conform to his ideals... outwardly at least.

And was it even worth it to go against him if it hurt the ones around her in the process? What good did it do to stand alone against someone like him? Perhaps it was better to let him believe she was on his side... if only to protect the ones she loved. But would that make her a coward?

Could she live a lie just to protect her friends? To protect Sirius?

No. She tried that already. No, she would have to fight against him... but how? How do you go after someone as powerful as he was?

She knew the answer, and she did not like it.

"I'm going to have a talk with Dumbledore."


	57. Chapter 57

**Chapter 57- A Nightmarish Daze**

"Sirius. I really think I can eat my soup on my own now—"

"My job is to assist you!" Sirius barked sassily.

Adelaide gave a resigned sigh. It had been about a week since her fall, and most of her bones were healed, but still Sirius _insisted_ upon _assisting_ her in very normal tasks such as eating, brushing her teeth, doing her potions homework, etc.

"Very well." she sighed.

Adelaide was mid-slurp when Marlene walked into the infirmary. "Well isn't that sweet..." she smirked, eyeing the two.

Adelaide quickly swatted Sirius away in embarrassment and grabbed the spoon to feed herself (much to his displeasure).

"Oh! Um... hi Marls." Sirius said awkwardly. Adelaide flashed a look to him as he looked at the honey blonde. Adelaide and Marlene were friendly of course, but they never really 'clicked'. So, needless to say, Adelaide was a little surprised to see her there.

"So, do you still want to go to Hogsmeade today or...?" Marlene asked, eyes drifting to Adelaide.

"Dammit." Sirius grumbled under his breath. "I forgot about that."

Adelaide felt her heart sink, and her throat become tighter. "I-I thought we were going to Hogsmeade together with the guys..." she squeaked.

"I know! And we were Ads! But then... erm..."

"But then I had to fall out of the bloody sky and screw everything up?" She finished.

"Oh it was before all that." Marlene said quickly with a dismissive wave, as if that made it any less annoying or painful.

Sirius looked between the two girls, feeling highly uncomfortable, and sweating slightly.

"Sirius you should just go. I-I'll be fine... Remus is coming in a bit to make me do homework anyways." She said with a shrug, faking a smile.

"I mean... I can stay if you want me to Ads..." Sirius said biting his lip as he looked her dead in the eyes.

"Um... I um... it's... erm... fine. Have fun." She forced out. Between his eyes and her own sudden feeling of awkwardness, she was having a hard time making sentences.

"Okay, well now that _that's_ settled," Marlene said smirking, "can we go?"

"Y-yeah... we need to stop by the dorm to grab my coat though." He said awkwardly once again. Adelaide had never seen him quite this out of sorts... besides occasionally when he was with herself.

Adelaide slurped her soup, pouting slightly until Remus bustled in ten minutes later.

"What's with you?" he asked as he set down a stack of text books with a _thump_ upon the bed table. "And where's Sirius?" He asked looking around. Sirius had been with Adelaide every possible waking and sleeping minute since her accident... it was getting a bit annoying to be honest, but he expected nothing less.

"He left." She answered monotone.

"Left... to go to the loo?"

"No. He _left_ to go to Hogsmeade." She said slurping her soup loudly. Yes, she said he could go... but that didn't mean she _meant_ it.

Remus raised his eyebrows in surprise. "But we decided to stay here this weekend? Why is he going off all by himself?"

"He's not going alone." She said stiffly. Remus raised a confused eyebrow. "He left with Marlene... apparently they planned it before I had the accident."

"Marlene?!" Remus asked incredulously. "Why?!"

"Why do you think?" She asked bitterly, slurping her soup once again.

"Rubbish." Remus muttered sitting down beside her. He couldn't understand how Sirius could go running off to Hogsmeade with Marlene, especially when he refused to let Jack even ask Adelaide... not that Remus particularly wanted Jack to go with her either... but still, it was the principle of the matter.

"What's that?" Adelaide asked, pointing to what seemed to be a letter in Remus's hand.

Remus looked down, as if he just remembered he had a hand connected to his arm. "Oh! This is for you actually." he said, handing the piece of parchment to the girl. He watched as her dark green eyes scanned over the letter and her features hardened into the impassive mask she wore so often.

"Dumbles is going out of town for a few weeks. Wants to start lessons in December." she informed him emotionlessly, putting the letter on the bed side table.

Adelaide had yet to speak with Dumbledore directly since her fall. It was always through Sirius or by note. She had yet to explain the full reasoning behind her change of heart, and to be honest she was not looking forward to it. Although she knew she would have to explain everything at some point, she didn't want Dumbledore to know why she needed his help just yet. First, she wanted to figure out why he was so keen on working with her.

"What are you going to tell him?" Remus asked.

"I figured I'd just say I want to be able to defend myself or something. It's not a lie." She shrugged.

"You should tell him about when you saw that stuff in Riddle's mind..." he said carefully.

"Why? It was just a bunch of rubbish..." she trailed off, setting the soup to the side and sitting up. She winced slightly as she aggravated a still tender rib.

"Riddle doesn't strike me as the type to ruminate on a shopping list Ads. He's a strategist. He had a purpose for that stuff, I just know it."

"Fine. I'll try to bring it up..." she grumbled. "Now how do you plan to torture me today?"

Remus smirked, pulling out a large charms book.

Adelaide's eyes lit up. "Oh! Remmy I love you!"

Remus blushed, reaching into his bag to pull out a quill and parchment. "Don't say that just yet, we still have to do that ridiculous assignment for Defense Against the Dark Arts." he said, causing Adelaide to groan and go on a fifteen minute tirade about how utterly buffoonish Professor Edelmar was.

After three grueling hours of working on assignments, Adelaide was all caught up in her classes, which was no small accomplishment given that she hadn't actually attended any lessons since before she landed herself in the hospital.

Poppy came bursting through the door just as Adelaide and Remus were beginning a game of exploding snap, demanding the broken girl's attention.

"Aw! But Poppy! This was my reward for being studious!" She whined, as the matron shoved some disgusting potion in her face.

"Yes, well... it will have to wait until after you've been released from bed rest." Madam Pomfrey said, hiding a smile.

"What?!" She exclaimed. "But that could be days from now!"

"Or it could be minutes." Poppy shrugged, smirking just slightly.

"Poppy... are you saying... that... I'm... _free_?" Adelaide asked, trying and failing to not get her hopes up.

"I'm saying that you are free... after you have taken this potion _and_ after you have promised me you will take it easy for the next week. No flying. No rough housing. And no throwing _anything_!"

Adelaide quickly gulped down the foul tasting healing potion, wiping her mouth with her sleeve, and smiled wide at the healer. "I promise! No flying! No rough housing! And I will make Regulus throw things at Sirius for me!"

Poppy stifled a chuckle. "Mr. Lupin, would you mind helping her bring her things back to the dormitory? I'm sure Black would be happy to help whenever he gets back from the restroom..." she said, assuming that since Sirius wasn't with her he must be there.

Adelaide's joy melted off her face. "Sirius isn't here. He went to Hogsmeade with one of my dorm-mates." She informed the woman.

Poppy blinked. "Oh. Well, Lupin I'm sure you'll be able to manage on your own."

Adelaide walked back to Gryffindor tower slowly. On top of the fact that she hadn't actually been able to walk many great distances since the accident, her legs were also a little shaky from recently repairing themselves.

As Adelaide and Remus approached the portrait of the fat lady, they both noticed the recognition upon the painted woman's face. "Oh! Little dear! You're back! I heard of that awful accident from Violet! How are you feeling?"

"Much better! Thank you!" She said with a smile.

Once inside the common room, Adelaide instantly sat upon the couch, breathing heavy and ignoring the curious looks from those around her. "I can't get up those stairs just yet Moons." She said, sprawling out on the couch across from the glowing fireplace. Remus chuckled and sat down in the armchair adjacent to her.

Adelaide looked into the burning embers of the fire, imagining whole glowing cities within... then drifted off to sleep…

 _Adelaide was running, out of breath through the cool dark halls of the manor. Steps falling hard upon the marble floors. She stopped, throwing herself against the wall at the corner of the hallway, wand clutched in her hand. She peered around the corner, and her knees nearly gave out as she saw a pale man with red snake like eyes, looming over the figure of a teenage boy with dark curly hair._

 _The boy was on the ground, leg in a mangled and unnatural position, yet his face showed no hint of pain._ _Adelaide_ _felt her breath hitch as she instantly recognized the boy, her heart racing as she saw the old leather diary._

 _A cold high pitched laugh rang through the air, and Adelaide saw the pale man raise his wand to the boy._

 _"NO!" she screamed, running out in front of the the boy. "NO! DON'T HURT HIM!" she demanded._

 _"Move you silly girl!" the cold voice demanded._

 _"No! You can't hurt him!"_

 _Adelaide felt her blood turn to ice as she heard the cackling of a woman… "Aw! wittle bitty Fawley wants to save my sweet baby cousin?"_

 _Adelaide_ _moved closer to the boy._

 _"CRUCIO!" screamed the woman. Adelaide braced herself for the pain that didn't come._

 _Suddenly the boy began to scream a scream so heart wrenching, she couldn't take it anymore. She looked over and saw him writhing in pain._

 _"STOP! P-p-please! D-Don't hurt him! Stop! P-please! Take me! Take me instead!" Adelaide sobbed, shrieking. It was as if her heart was being ripped out of her chest. "P-PLEASE TAKE ME INSTEAD!"_

"Addykins! Wake up, love!" Sirius said, gently trying to nudge her awake while Marlene looked on in concern. "Addykins! Please wake up!" he pleaded in a whisper.

Adelaide continued to mumble in her sleep, twitching and crying, covered in sweat. "No... take me..." she pleaded. "Take me instead..."

Sirius finally began shaking her, hoping he wasn't re-breaking any ribs. After a moment, her eyes fluttered open and she gasped for breath, seeing nothing but Sirius's worried face. She instantly embraced him, ignoring the pain it caused within her rib cage. Adelaide let go and quickly realized where she was: on the couch of the common room... which was disturbingly quiet as everyone watched the frantic scene unfold.

"Get back to your business you nosey sods!" Marlene demanded.

"Sirius… You're okay?" she said, out of breath, eyes full of tears and disbelief. She looked him over. "The diary…" she murmured.

"I'm fine. It was just a dream Addykins." he said, pushing the hair out of her face.

"It didn't feel like a dream." she said looking him in the eyes. "B-bellatrix… she- and you… Your leg!" she looked down to make sure his leg wasn't broken. It was perfectly fine. "And the diary! Sirius we found it! Well… _you_ found it… oh and he was so upset…"

Sirius looked at her as if she was speaking a completely different language. "Who… I— Adelaide you aren't making any sense. Why are you even here? Poppy's going to throw a fit!"

"Poppy let me go earlier today," she said with an unintended edge to her voice. This was something he would have known if he hadn't been going off to have a date with Marlene, she thought to herself. Her eyes suddenly flashed to the honey blonde behind him, unconsciously narrowing into a glare. "while you were on your date or whatever." she said cooly, sitting up.

"I-I... it... I didn't... I wasn't..." he sputtered.

"It's fine Sirius… You two have fun. I'm going to just go rest upstairs anyway." She said cutting him off, avoiding eye contact as she slowly made her way off the couch and up the stairs.

Sirius watched her go as if lost in a daze. A nightmarish daze.

"I hate to say I told you so... but..." Marlene smirked.

"Not the time Marls." Sirius said putting up a hand to silence her.

"What did you expect?"

"I dunno... I guess I just thought she wouldn't care..."

Marlene raised an eyebrow. "Sirius, I'm hardly even friends with her and even _I_ knew she would care." she said impatiently. Sirius frowned. "But I also know she'll forgive you."

"I hope you're right Marls."

"I'm always right." she smirked.


	58. Chapter 58

**Chapter 58- Facing Your Fears**

"Moons... is it just me or have you noticed that Tuffy's been ignoring Pads?" James whispered at dinner, two nights after Adelaide was released from the hospital. Adelaide was sitting with the Slytherins, avoiding both the Marauders (AKA Sirius) and the girls (AKA Marlene), though if you asked her, she would deny any of this.

Remus raised an eyebrow. "Tuffy?"

"Yeah. Tufts. Tuffy..." Remus raised his eyebrow higher. "...You know I'm sensing a lot of judgement radiating from you right now." James said gesturing toward the sassy werewolf.

"No judgement... A bit of mild concern for your terrible nicknaming abilities, but no judgment ... Also, to answer your question: Yes, I have noticed."

"What do you think he did?" James asked.

"I think she's mad because he went to Hogsmeade with Marlene."

"Why?" James asked genuinely.

Remus just looked at him, waiting a moment to see if it would click. It didn't. He sighed. "He went on a date with Marlene..." he restated.

"What? No he didn't!"

"I mean, he went off with her... alone..." Remus trailed off.

"Remmy. I know for a fact he doesn't fancy Marlene." James said smugly. "Peter on the other hand... totally different story..."

Remus and James's gazes each fixed themselves on the tubby blonde boy looking longingly at the honey blonde witch down the table.

"How did I never notice this..." Remus asked mostly to himself. He shook himself out of his thoughts and turned back toward his messy haired friend. "Well if he doesn't fancy her, then what was he doing with her all day?!" Remus whispered incredulously.

"I erm... I can't tell you. I'm sworn to secrecy." James said frustratedly.

Remus rolled his eyes.

"Wait, why does Addy care if he goes on a date anyway?" James asked suspiciously.

"I do not presume to understand the inner workings of Addy's mind. I just know she seemed a little annoyed by it is all." Remus shrugged, knowing good and well why she cared.

"Hmm... Still... seems a little weird." James said suspiciously.

* * *

"Hey Addykins!" Sirius tried on day three of Adelaide's attempt to ice him out.

"Hi." she said simply, not looking up from the book she was reading about dream interpretations.

Sirius frowned slightly, but plopped down on the couch beside her. "What are you reading?" he asked, peering over to get a better look at the book.

"A divination book." she murmured shortly, moving away.

"What about?" he asked scooting closer.

Adelaide sighed loudly. "About dreams."

"Is this about that nightmare you had the other day?"

"I told you, it didn't feel like a nightmare..." she muttered. "I've had a lot of them, I think I would know."

"You know, I get them a lot too..." he said off-handedly.

Adelaide looked at him for the first time in three days. "What?" she asked with concern.

"I-I get nightmares a lot too..." he shrugged awkwardly, wishing he hadn't said anything.

"I didn't know that... Why didn't you ever tell me?" she asked, looking at him with intense empathy.

"W-well I didn't want to worry you... You have a lot on your plate... and I just— I dunno I just didn't want you worrying about me." he said softly.

"You're kind of stupid, you know that?" she said with a small smile. "Sirius, you can tell me anything... anytime... Even if I'm mad at you for being a bumbling idiot." she sighed.

Sirius didn't know what to say, so he instead nodded then sprawled out across the couch, putting his feet in her lap.

"What are they about?" she asked softly after a few minutes.

"huh?"

"Your nightmares." she clarified, looking over at him.

Sirius shrugged, instantly finding the hem of his sleeve intensely interesting. "They um... well..." he spared a glance up at her piercing gaze. Her forest green eyes instantly grounded him and gave him the courage to tell the truth. "It's usually about you."

 _"Me?"_ she repeated incredulously. "You think I'm a nightmare?" she asked, trying to lighten the mood.

Sirius let out a small chuckle, sitting up straight again. "The opposite really," he winked, then sighed. "They um... Well they usually involve you and my parents or something. I see them doing to you all the messed up stuff they've done to me... and more." he mumbled. "But sometimes it's Regulus or James... But I'm always just there... and..." the words died in his mouth.

Adelaide quickly set the book down and scooted up next to him, wrapping her arms around his arm and resting her head on his shoulder. Sirius unconsciously placed her hand in his.

"The worst part of the dream is that I... I'm with my parents... just letting it happen... not doing anything." he said in hardly a whisper. "Makes me feel like a bloody coward."

"You're not a coward." Adelaide said firmly. "Not at all." she told him, squeezing his hand.

If anyone was the coward, she thought, it was her.

"Thank you Ads." he said sincerely. "I um... I needed to hear that."

"Anytime." she smiled up at him. "Oh! And another thing... If you have a nightmare again... You have my permission to sneak into the girls dorm as Padfoot—If you abuse this privilege I will hex you— but I um... I know it's hard... and it's nice to have someone around to remind you none of it was real." she said softly.

Sirius instantly perked up. "Really?!"

"Yes... but again, if you just go up there to be a pervert or something I will take you to the vet and get you fixed... Do you understand?"

Sirius gulped and nodded emphatically as Adelaide chuckled. He couldn't help but relish the fact that he had been the one to make her smile.

"So, um... are you still mad at me?"

Adelaide stiffened, pulling away from him. "I haven't been mad at you." she lied.

"Addy... I can tell when you're lying."

"Okay, maybe I'm still a little mad."

"Do you mind telling me what horrible thing I did, at least?"

"W-well you didn't tell me you... You didn't tell me you fancied Marlene." she said looking down and fiddling with her sleeve. A bark-like laugh began to rumble from beside her. "What's so funny?"

"I— I" he said between laughs. "I don't fancy— Marlene!" he forced out, practically doubled over at this point.

Adelaide frowned. "Well then why did you ask her to go with you on a date to hogsmeade!?"

Sirius finally calmed down. "Top secret mission." he winked. "But it definitely wasn't a date Ads."

Adelaides brows furrowed. The next words came tumbling from her lips quicker than she could stop them. "But you would tell me if you fancied someone else, right?"

Sirius hesitated and gulped. "Y-yeah... of course Addykins... And you would tell me if you fancied someone too, right?"

This time _Adelaide_ hesitated. "Um yeah of course. We're best friends. We tell each other everything..." she said, feeling guilt gnaw at her from the inside out.

Yes, she told him everything—besides the fact that she fancied him so much it hurt, and that he may end up in an arranged marriage with her— But other than that, it was perfect communication.

"So... um... We should erm... Probably head to class..." Sirius said awkwardly.

"Yeah... class... we should um... go to erm... that." she said just as awkwardly.

* * *

Adelaide and Sirius's temporary bout of awkwardness seemed to fade as they met up with the rest of the group.

"They're talking again." James hissed at Remus with a gigantic goofy grin, nodding toward Adelaide and Sirius as they jokingly bickered about the likelihood of a troll actually being able to fly on a broom.

Remus looked less than enthused. "Yeah, that's great."

The class filed into the room noticing that the desks and chairs had all been pushed back against the walls, a large wardrobe standing alone in the middle of the room, shaking and rattling a bit every once and a while... as if there was something inside that very much wanted to get out.

Professor Edelmar stood in front of the wardrobe, flashing his unnaturally white smile while wearing obnoxiously ostentatious robes, a particularly violent shade of violet, that made even Adelaide turn her nose up in distaste.

"Today's lesson, in case you haven't noticed, will be a practical one." he drawled. "Professor Sinistra was lucky enough to find a boggart in her wardrobe this weekend. Now, can anyone tell us a little about Boggarts?"

Remus raised his hand immediately.

"Yes, Mr...?"

"Remus Lupin, Sir—" Remus was pleasantly surprised that the anti-werewolf professor had yet to learn his name.

"Lupin!?" the professor exclaimed, putting Remus and the others on guard. "You wouldn't happen to be related to Lyall Lupin would you? The world-renowned expert on Non-Human Spirituous Apparitions?"

"He's my father, sir." Remus said politely, yet ears turning a little red.

Edelmar looked impressed. "Well then by all means, please tell us about the beast!"

Remus nodded. "A boggart is an shape-shifting amortal that takes on the form of the viewer's worst fear. It often inhabits confined spaces, but they've been known to lurk in dark corners of woods as well." he recited.

"Correct Mr. Lupin! Ten points to Gryffindor!" he cheered. "Now, there is a very simple charm used to combat boggarts, that requires a strong mind and good concentration. You simply imagine the frightening form into something more amusing, move your wand like so, and say: _Riddikulus."_

The class took some time to practice the wand movement on their own, then were asked to line up in-front of the wardrobe... to literally face their fears. Remus wandered as far back as he could, with hopes that they would run out of time before the line got to him.

Mary was the first to go. She pulled her long dark hair back into a ponytail, and stood with firm resolution, wand pointed toward the wardrobe. Edelmar opened the rattling door of the wardrobe with a flick of his wand.

The door creaked open, and out slithered an enormous snake with fangs the size of Mary's forearm.

She jumped backwards, wand still pointed at the gigantic serpent, hand shaking. " _R-riddikulus!"_

The snake sprouted legs and began to tap dance. The class erupted in laughter, causing the snake to look a little self conscious with it's dance moves.

"Next!" The professor called.

Lily took Mary's place, and with a loud crack, the snake shape-shifted into a thin blonde-haired girl with pale eyes and an abnormally long neck. She seemed to be only a little older than herself.

"You're a freak Lily! You're a freak! No one could ever love you!" the boggart girl shrieked.

Lily went very pale, and raised her wand. She opened her mouth, but nothing came out. James fought the urge the run out and scream at the idiot boggart girl.

"YOU'RE A FREAK! A WEIRDO! NO ONE COULD EVER LOVE A FREAK LIKE YOU!" the boggart girl continued, moving closer, then laughing maniacally.

 _"Riddikulus!"_

The girl suddenly was given a bright red coat and black top hat, making her resemble a ringmaster at the circus. The boggart girl hid her face in shame.

Lily giggled and walked to the side as Marlene Mckinnon took her place, golden hair braided down the back of her head, and her dark blue eyes narrowed.

 _Crack!_

A dark hooded figure wearing a mask with snake-like eye slits stood with it's wand outstretched toward her— A Death Eater.

 _"Riddikulus!"_ she shouted confidently.

The hood was transformed into a princess crown, the black robes into a pink tutu, and the wand turned pink and glittery.

James sauntered up in her place. With yet another loud crack, he saw his broom laying on the floor in pieces and McGonnagall handing the quidditch cup to the Slytherin captain — _"Riddikulus!" —_ the cup was hoisted into the air, then dropped a vast amount of chocolate pudding onto the two.

Next was Peter. With a loud _crack,_ the boggart turned into a short, fat, balding man that greatly resembled the blonde boy. He wore a sloppy stained shirt, and looked at Peter with wild eyes of blind hatred, holding what seemed to be an empty bottle of fire-whiskey.

"You no good, sack of talentless filth! You are so worthless that you might as well be a squib! You will never amount to anything!" he slurred angrily. "I'm ashamed to even call you a son."

Peter was pale and clammy, wand nearly slipping out of his hand from his violent trembling.

"He's lying Wormy. You can do this." Adelaide whispered from behind him. Peter nodded.

" _Riddikulus!"_

The man's bottle turned into a big red sack, his clothes turned into a red Santa suit, and a big bushy white beard replaced the sloppy stubble on his face.

Adelaide quickly took her place in front of the Santa Clause lookalike. _Crack!_ — A pretty, yet hawk-like woman, with big hazel eyes and a disapproving look upon her face, stood in front of her. Her mother.

Boggart Cathryn Fawley raised her wand toward the trembling girl with a sneer, then stepped aside to reveal a lanky boy with dark curly hair standing behind her. Boggart Sirius looked older by a few years, and his leg was broken and twisted, just like the Sirius from her weird dream... Adelaide even noticed the diary on the floor beside him... as did Edelmar...

Boggart Cathryn suddenly changed into a woman with wild curly hair and dark hooded eyes. Bellatrix Black (soon-to-be Lestrange).

Boggart Bellatrix let out a horrible cackle, turning to face the boy. "Wittle baby Addykins can't save Siri-boo." she taunted. She let out another cackle then shouted " _CRUCIO_ ," voice cold as ice, a malicious sneer etched across her face. Boggart Sirius fell to the ground screaming, "ADDYKINS! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!" between shrieks of pain and sobs.

Adelaide stifled a sob, forgetting that none of this was real. "STOP!" she begged. The rest of the class looked on in shock... Edelmar, however, looked strangely interested.

 _Crack!_

The image of Sirius being tortured shifted into a man with blood red eyes wearing a black suit, eyeing her greedily, laughing in a high cold laugh. "I can give you power. More power than Dumbledore."

Edelmar instantly glanced between Adelaide and the boggart man, eyes intense and analytical.

"I DON'T WANT IT!" Adelaide screamed furiously.

"Then they will die." he laughed, "They will all die, and it will be all your fault." the high pitched laugh rang through the air like nails on a chalkboard.

Adelaide felt a hand rest on her shoulder. "Addy... it isn't real." Sirius whispered.

" _Riddikulus!"_ she shouted. The man was suddenly being chased by a gigantic purple ball of fluff with a large ink-stain plainly visible.

"WOOHOO! YEAH! YOU GO GET HIM DORRIS!" James cheered while he and the rest of the class laughed uproariously.

Sirius, still a little shaken from watching himself be tortured, took Adelaide's place as she ran away.

 _Crack!_

Boggart Adelaide stood in front of him wearing a wedding dress. Crying, wet streaks of black mascara running down her face. "Y-you were supposed to save me! YOU COWARD!" she cried out in anger. "YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO SAVE BOTH OF US!" she yelled, moving backwards to reveal Regulus cold and dead on the ground... A strange tattoo etched into the skin of his forearm.

 _Crack!_

The boggart turned into a man with deep set blue eyes and pale blonde hair, wearing dark dress robes and a sickly smile. "Well done Sirius. Well done. I'm glad you finally see the error of your ways."

Sirius stared wide eyed at Mr. Fawley as he waltzed up to him.

 _Crack!_

Sirius's breath was now ragged as he looked at what seemed to be his reflection, but his hair was short and neat, much like Regulus's, his clothes fine and distinguished, and his stance proud and proper.

"You can pretend all you want, but at the end of the day, you know that you are just like me." Boggart Sirius said with the signature pureblood languid drawl.

"No, I'm not." Sirius spat. " _Riddikulus!"_

Boggart Sirius suddenly shrunk into a small black kitten.

None of the Marauders could do anything but laugh loudly at the fact that Sirius had just turned himself into a cat. Sirius stormed off and joined Adelaide in the back of the class. Both very much wanting to forget the images they just saw.

Remus was making his way slowly up to take his place, drenched in dread. With one final Crack, the boggart took the form of a simple silvery white orb, hanging in the air in front of him.

" _Riddikulus!"_ Remus shouted after hardly a second.

The orb instantly turned into a cockroach, falling to the ground and scurrying back into the wardrobe, just as the bell ending class rang out.

"Well done... Well done. Now don't forget your research papers over Werewolves are due this Thursday!" Professor Edelmar said over the sounds of students grabbing their belongings and shuffling out of the class.

As the class shuffled out, Sirius, Peter, and James instantly went to assure Remus that no one would ever be able to guess why that was his boggart, with Adelaide moving to catch up with them.

"Miss Fawley. I would like to speak with you for a moment." Professor Edelmar drawled.

Adelaide sighed deeply, bracing herself for yet another weird professor to accuse her of using dark magic.

"Miss Fawley. Would you mind explaining why your boggart was Lord Voldemort?"

Adelaide winced at the name. The horrible dark wizard running around terrorizing and murdering muggles and muggle-borns. She read the news— she knew all about him and his horrible 'death eater' followers. But what she didn't understand was why Edelmar thought he was her boggart.

"Excuse me sir?" she asked in a shaky voice.

"I asked, why your boggart was Lord Voldemort. He offered you power, yes?"

Adelaide's blood ran cold. "No. That was Mr. Riddle! He's just some creepy bloke my parents have around all the time."

Eckhart Edelmar gave a genuine look of concern. "My dear girl... They are the same person."

Adelaide could feel her face harden as her heart pounded in her chest and her breaths became shallow. No. No they couldn't be the same person. There was no way.

"I'm afraid you are mistaken Professor." she said emotionlessly. "I'm afraid I have to go to class now." she said, turning to leave before he had a chance to say another word.

As she walked, she found her feet leading her, not to her next lesson, but to the statue of a gargoyle.

"Hey Gary." she greeted.

"Hello Miss Adelaide." he said happily. "I'm afraid he is still out of town."

"I know. Could you let someone know that I need to speak with him immediately?" she said, voice shaking just slightly.

"Of course... May I ask what about?"

"Voldemort." she said simply, a shiver running down her spine.


	59. Chapter 59

**Chapter 59- Bossy Breakfast Ruiner**

It had been several days since Adelaide found out the truth of Tom Riddle's identity. Though, to be honest, she was still having a hard time processing it all. She resolved to not tell anyone until she'd had a chance to speak with Dumbledore, and was getting more and more agitated the longer it took for him to respond.

If Riddle really was You-Know-Who, then this changed everything. This meant that she was being manipulated, pushed around in some grand chess game by one of the most dangerous dark wizards of all time. She shuttered at the thought of him poking through her mind, but was quietly proud of her ability to fend him off so well. Perhaps he wasn't as powerful as he would like to think he was.

Finally, on Sunday morning, while she sat with Regulus, Evan, and Mary, peacefully eating her oatmeal, a barn owl swooped over in her direction, delivering a small note written in elegant blue scrawl. She opened the letter hastily... then began to get up to leave the grand hall immediately.

"Addy! What the—? Where are you going?! Is everything okay?" Mary asked with concern reflected in Evan and Regulus's faces as well.

"I'm fine! I just have to go. See you later Mar! Bye guys!" she said quickly, not even looking at her friends as she ran over toward the Gryffindor table toward the boys. "Sirius, I need you to come with me. Now." she said, attempting to pull him up by the collar of his t-shirt.

"But— my pancakes..." he said woefully.

"Ughhh! You can take them with you, now get up. NOW!"

Sirius grumbled something about her being a bossy breakfast ruiner, but got up regardless.

"Addy! Where are you going?" James asked worriedly.

Adelaide let out an impatient groan and leaned forward toward the boys. "Dumbledore. I had him come back early, I need Sirius to help me explain some stuff." she whispered.

It was quite a sight, seeing a nearly manic girl dragging the disgruntled dark haired boy through the castle as he tried, in vain, to scarf down his large stack of pancakes. They earned quite a few confused looks along their journey.

"Addy! I thought you were dreading this? Why the sudden burst of freakish enthusiasm?" Sirius asked through a mouthful of pancakes.

"There's a bit of the puzzle I haven't told you about just yet." she said quickly, rounding the corner toward Gary the Gargoyle.

"Acid Pops." she said quickly.

"No 'hello Gary'?" the gargoyle said sassily.

Adelaide blushed, embarrassed by her own rudeness. "oh... Sorry Gary." she said with an apologetic smile. "Oh! This is my best friend I told you about, Sirius Black." she said with a smile.

Sirius looked back and forth between Adelaide and the gargoyle, who apparently was a friend of hers, then gave an awkward wave, mouth still full of pancakes.

Gary quickly revealed the entrance and the magical staircase that lead to the headmasters office.

"Um. Sirius, there's something I need to tell you before we go in there." she said apprehensively.

Sirius took another bite of his food, raising a quizzical eyebrow.

"Tom Riddle is actually Voldemort." she said quickly.

Sirius nearly choked to death on his pancakes. "He... who... how... no... " he said between labored coughs, grey eyes bugging out wildly in disbelief.

"Yes. I know. Very shocking. But we need to go see Dumbles now." she said trying to drag him up the steps.

"NO! STOP IT ADDY! WHAT THE HELL?" he hollered. "You choose now _now_ of all times to tell me this little tidbit of information?!"

"I didn't want to worry you. Now— come— on—!" she grunted, attempting to push him up the stairs. She was very strong, but so was he—and he was also much larger than her, so needless to say he did not budge.

"Addy. When did you figure this out?" he asked, ignoring the fact that she was trying her hardest to push him forward.

"This week. After Defense Against the Dark Arts. I'll explain everything once we get up there, I promise! I just didn't want you to freak out in front of Dumbledore. Now come on!" she pleaded.

Sirius gave her a analyzing look for a long moment. "Fine."

The two took the magical moving stairs up to the door then knocked, only to have the door swing open on its own.

"Miss Fawley," Dumbledore nodded "...and Mr. Black?"

"He's just as much a part of this as I am." She said quickly. "Now, please sit. We have a lot of information to get through." she said bossily.

Dumbledore blinked, then looked at Sirius who gave a shrug, as if to say 'you might as well just go along with it.'

The old headmaster conjured two squashy armchairs for the students then sat at his desk across from them. "You say you have information about Voldemort...?" He said. His voice was quizzical and Sirius could tell he thought Adelaide was overreacting. But if Adelaide was right; if Tom Riddle was really Voldemort, that meant she had valuable information.

"She does." Sirius said confidently.

Adelaide gave her friend a grateful look. "Apparently his name is really Tom Riddle and he started some weird group while in school—"

"—The Knights of Walpurgis" Dumbledore interjected calmly.

Adelaide gave him an annoyed look for interrupting her. "—yes. Well both mine and Sirius's parents were apart of this little group of his— they were pals during school along with the Selwyns."

"I am afraid I know all this already." Dumbledore said calmly.

"Would you just listen!? I doubt you know she read Riddle's mind!"

Dumbledore's eyes flashed to Adelaide who was frowning at the memory. "You're a legilimens?"

"No. But I'm very good at occlumency, as you may have already known... I had dinner with him and it just sort of happened by accident... but I would really rather explain this chronologically if you don't mind!" she said in a huffy and bossy tone once again.

Dumbledore was not used to being bossed around in his own office. He calmly gestured for her to continue her story. "I will try not to interrupt." He said cooly.

Adelaide gave him an annoyed look. She really never understood why everyone loved him. It was painfully obvious to her that his calm demeanor was only a front: a ruse to gain trust and power. Nevertheless, she needed his help, no matter how much he bugged her.

Adelaide and Sirius then began to retell every interaction either one had ever had with Mr. Riddle, directly or indirectly... minus the part about him forcing her parents to include Sirius as the fourth suitor...

"Um... Sirius... I need you to step out for a second." Adelaide said softly, knowing she needed to tell Dumbledore _everything_ if she was ever going to be able to keep Sirius safe.

Sirius looked bemused. "What? Why?"

"Just please. You can come back in a couple of minutes." She pleaded.

"Is this about the fourth tosser on the list?" he asked rolling his eyes.

Adelaide nodded.

"I don't understand why I can't know Addyki—"

"Please just leave!" She begged.

Sirius could tell that this was stressing her out, but refused to leave. "No. Addy, we tell each other everything."

"I can't tell you this right now." She whispered, annoyed that Dumbledore was listening in on their squabble. "Not here, not like this." She hissed.

"Why?! Addy, who could it possibly be to make you this weird about telling me?!" Sirius asked. Realization seemed to sink in with every word he uttered.

It was a family they already knew well.

Brothers.

He took a steadying breath. "It's _my_ family, isn't it Ads? ...that's why you didn't want to tell me..."

Adelaide hid her face in her hands and wished she could apperate away, or turn into Tufts and hide in a corner, anything to disappear.

He took her silence as confirmation. "I'll go. We can talk about it later." He said calmly.

It wasn't until Adelaide heard the door shut that she looked up.

"Riddle made my parents include Sirius on the list." She said to the old wizard with tears welling up in her eyes. "He wants to recruit us both..." She then explained the extent and reasoning behind Riddle's manipulation. "That's why I need your help. I can't let him hurt Sirius."

"I understand." Dumbledore said genuinely.

Adelaide went to the door, and walked the steps down to where Sirius was sitting against a wall, having a nice chat with Gary.

"...I had no idea he was a Chuddly Cannons fan! —Oh! Hey Ads!"

Adelaide smirked. "Glad to see you two have hit things off. You can come back up now."

As they walked up together, the tension was palpable. Unsaid words seemed to linger thickly in the air between them drawing them closer, but apart at the same time.

"I'm sorry Sirius... I should have told you..." she said softly just before they reached the door.

"No, it's okay. I understand why you didn't." he said reassuringly.

They re-entered the room and sat back down in the squashy armchairs.

Dumbledore sat back in his chair, a look of deep contemplation etched across his old and wrinkled face, his fingers pressed together in a steeple.

"Explain the dream again please." He requested, not looking up from a point on his desk.

Adelaide and Sirius looked at each other in confusion, but then she slowly recounted the dream to the wizard once again.

Dumbledore frowned. "The home, was it your own?"

"No sir. I-I think it was Malfoy Manor." She answered.

"And you're sure you told them to 'take you instead'?"

"Positive."

Sirius nodded in agreement. "Yeah... she's said it before..." Adelaide looked back at him curiously. "When you had the nightmare at the hospital, you kept saying that over and over in your sleep."

"I forgot about that one! That's the one where I heard Riddle laugh... I didn't know it at the time... that was long before I met him... but it was definitely him." She said with a shiver.

Dumbledore finally looked up to address the pale-blonde girl directly. "I believe you were correct in your assertion Miss Fawley. I do not believe this was any ordinary dream."

"Well then what was it?" Sirius asked impatiently.

"I believe what Miss Fawley saw was a scene from the future."

Adelaide's jaw dropped. "Are you trying to tell me I'm a 'seer' or something?" She asked incredulously. "Codswallop."

"Hold on! You really think my crazy cousin is going to actually torture me?!" Sirius asked, feeling more than a little rattled.

"Yes." Dumbledore's said simply. "But the future is not set in stone... we have an advantage."

Adelaide raised an eyebrow. " _We_?"

"Yes. _We_." He said with the hint of a smile.

"What about all that junk she saw!? The diary was part of it and then it was in the dream! When she woke up she kept going on about how 'I found it' and how 'he was mad'..."

Adelaide had honestly forgotten that part... Everything between waking up, and seeing that he was safe, to glaring at Marlene was a blur.

"I'm not sure why the diary is of importance just yet... but as for the other items you described... I believe I know what a few of them may be."

"Oh Moony will be so happy to hear that." Adelaide smirked, looking over at Sirius. "He's been obsessing over them all term."

Dumbledore smiled, not at her comment, but at the nickname they had given their werewolf friend. He cleared his throat lightly to gain her attention once more. "I believe that two of the items were artifacts originally owned by two of the Hogwarts founders." He stated simply, as if this made all the sense in the world.

"Why? Why would he be thinking about them?" Adelaide asked.

"I have a theory, but I cannot be sure. I do know that Riddle cared a great deal about the school, he even applied for a teaching position a few years ago. You see, Hogwarts was the only real home he has ever known."

Adelaide and Sirius looked utterly confused.

"Tom Riddle was an orphan."

"Oh." Adelaide said simply.

"From your description, I believe the tiara you saw was actually a diadem. The lost diadem of Ravenclaw to be exact. And the goblet... it resembled this, I believe," Dumbledore waved his wand, summoning a large book to hover between the two students, flipping open to a page with a large picture of the golden and gleaming cup. Adelaide nodded. "This belonged to Helga Hufflepuff herself."

"That's really great and all, but I still don't understand." Sirius said looking up from the book.

"I believe that Riddle is to looking acquire these items for a purpose... but again, am not yet sure of what this purpose entails." He said cryptically.

Adelaide was getting tired of the whole speculation game. She wanted to know what their next steps were; how he proposed to help. "So, now what?" she asked.

"Now, I help you learn to manage your wandless magic and fortify your occlumency skills."

"I want you to help Sirius too." she stated.

"I would be happy to help Mr. Black improve his Occlumency skills—"

"—I want Addy out of that house." Sirius said in a deadly cold voice that Adelaide had only heard him use a few times before. She knew better than to interrupt him.

Dumbledore resumed his thoughtful pose, leaning back in his chair, hands in a steeple. "I can offer her protection over the winter holidays."

"That's not enough." Sirius said, staring the old wizard down obstinately.

"I'm afraid that's all I can do... it is too much of an asset to have her inside information..."

"NO! I won't let you use her!" He exclaimed, beginning to rise from his seat. Adelaide placed a calming hand on his arm.

"He's right," she said softly. "It's not ideal... but if it helps, I'm willing to stay." she said, glancing at the old wizard. She knew quite well that Dumbledore was using her; risking her safety for the greater good, but she was willing to take the risk.

"Addy... you should at least have a choice." Sirius said looking at her with glassy eyes.

"That would have been my choice Sirius. It's okay, really." She said giving him a small smile.

He wanted very badly to throw some of Dumbledores belongings against a wall, but chose to nod and sulk in his seat instead. "Can we be done? It's got to be lunch by now..."

Adelaide looked to Dumbledore.

"Yes. I think that's quite enough for one day." He said with a slight smile. "I appreciate you both coming to me with this information... I know it was not a decision made lightly." He said in a somber tone. "I will send an owl with the time of your first lessons."

And with that, the two made their way to lunch, then to the boys dorm where they relayed the whole sequence of events to the other boys— except the part about the fourth suitor.

After a rather heated discussion about their various theories regarding why Riddle would ever want all those things (theories of which included him wanting to curse them, use them for some dark ritual, or simply sell them for some extra galleons), Adelaide and Sirius both knew they needed to talk about the Erumpent in the room.

"Hey Ads, do you want to go try and chase Mrs. Norris with me?" Sirius asked. James gave him a quizzical look.

Adelaide laughed. "Sure."

Once out the portrait hole, Sirius began to walk toward the secret room on the third floor. "I sort of made up all that about chasing Mrs. Norris so we could talk." he said scratching the back of his neck. "We can still do that later though if you want." He smirked.

"It's okay, that's what I figured." She shrugged.

They walked in silence, only speaking to say the password to the hidden room they had named 'The Marauder Cave'.

They sat down on one of the big purple couches. Adelaide sat cross legged facing Sirius beside her.

She played with a strand of her long hair, making a mental note to figure out a charm to cut it. "So, what all do you want to know?"

"Well first of all, I think you already know if it's me or Regulus."

Adelaide tensed. How did he know that? "I do," she said looking pointedly down.

"Well... As much as it literally makes me nauseous to think about... At least I know Reg would never hurt you..." he said through his teeth.

Adelaide looked up, mouth open as if she stopped herself from saying something.

Sirius furrowed his brows. Her face made no sense. "Addy... it _is_ Reg, _right_?"

He couldn't believe he was even having to ask this question. Her father tolerated him at best, but her mother _hated_ him.

Adelaide's face turned bright red. "Um... no." She said in a small voice.

Sirius's eyes widened with shock, heart beating wildly, breath shallow. He couldn't believe it.

"You better not be joking Ads." He said. But he knew she wasn't. "Good Merlin..." He let out a breath and ran his hands through his hair. "W-why?!"

"Riddle." She sighed. She then explained for the second time that day why Riddle would do such a thing.

"This makes things weird, doesn't it?" She mumbled, voice muffled from hiding her face in her hands.

"Nah," he said easily with an audible grin.

Adelaide peeked up.

"None of that stuff really matters. I'm planning on breaking you out of there long before you actually marry anyone." He said cheekily, giving her a wink.

Adelaide felt a smile force its way upon her lips. She rolled her eyes, letting out a short chuckle. "Of course you are."


	60. Chapter 60

**Chapter 60- Am I a Bully?**

It had been _weeks_ since Adelaide and Sirius had talked to Dumbledore and they still hadn't heard from the weird old wizard about beginning their lessons. Adelaide was just about ready to go to Gary and have him suggest that the Headmaster get an assistant or something, when a big barn owl dropped two letters in elegant blue scrawl, announcing that their first lessons would take place during the second week of December.

Originally, they were to receive their lessons separately. But Adelaide being who she was, all but demanded that she and Sirius have their lessons together, and got her way (of course), much to Sirius's relief. He shuttered at the thought of her being alone with a man who already proved he was willing to put her safety at risk.

Finally, after what felt like ages, on a snowy Thursday during the second week of December, the day of their first lesson arrived. But the lesson wasn't actually until that evening, which was a tremendously good thing, because the Marauders had an incredibly important matter to attend to that afternoon.

"Everyone in position!" James hissed, pulling the invisibility cloak over him and a pale-blonde girl with determination gleaming from her forest green eyes.

"Aye aye captain!" Sirius smirked, giving a salute as he sneakily scurried behind a tapestry.

"Moons, where's the target?" the voice of Adelaide whispered.

Remus scanned the large piece of parchment for the name in question. "Headed this way down the south entrance, just passing the transfiguration courtyard now." he informed them, following the dot with his finger. "And Wormy's still distracting Minnie."

"Remember, when they come by we strike him first, then the others. Understood?" James said importantly.

"Sir, yes sir!" whispered the voice behind the tapestry. Adelaide rolled her eyes.

Remus quickly ran behind a suit of armor as Adelaide and James crouched near the entrance of the corridor, and then they waited with bated breath for the target to emerge.

A greasy haired boy with a hooked nose rounded a corner of the corridor, alongside a few of the more annoying and despicable members of the Slytherin population: Finn Rowle, Walden Macnair, and Antonin Dolohov.

"Now Tuffy." James hissed.

Adelaide made a face at the name, but pointed her wand toward her target and whispered, " _Pullus."_

With a flash of bright white, the books within Severus Snape's arms transformed into two chickens and a goose.

" _Oppugno."_

The chicken duo and the goose began to attack the greasy Slytherin mercilessly.

"Gerroff!" he shouted, trying to kick his books-turned-fowl away.

 _"Melofors,"_ whispered Sirius, peeking out from behind the tapestry, successfully encasing Antonin Dolohov's head in a pumpkin, causing him to let out a muffled girlish scream, and run around wildly in circles.

" _Tarantallegra!"_ hissed Remus from behind the the suit of armor on the opposite side of the hall, wand pointed at Walden Macnair, who subsequently broke out into a rather impressive, albeit rather aggressive, Irish step dance. Remus pulled out the chewing gum from his mouth and whispered, "Waddiwasi," sending the gum with the force of a bullet, straight down Macnair's left nostril.

James smirked, aiming is wand at pompous Finn Rowle. " _Ebublio_ "— Finn was encased in a giant bubble. " _Vermiculus"_ — Finn was encased in a giant bubble now filled with worms that used to be his school books, squealing in horror.

Adelaide focused hard, aiming her elm wand to hit all four at once. _"Cantis."_

The chaotic scene was suddenly filled with music as all four boys, (still being attacked by birds, encased in pumpkins, dancing aggressively, and trapped in worm-filled bubbles), began to sing a truly wonderful rendition of Celestina Warbeck's

A crowd began to form around the quartet, allowing the Marauders to seamlessly join the ever-growing audience.

"... _You stole my cauldron, but you can't have my h_ _eee_ _eaaaaa_ _rrrr_ _rt!"_

The group ended the song with a perfect four-part harmony, earning a round of applause and boisterous guffaw.

"POTTER, BLACK, LUPIN, FAWLEY!" Boomed the voice of Minerva McGonagall. The four in question, slowly turned toward their angry head of house, who happened to be tugging little Peter Pettigrew along-side her by the ear.

"Busted..." James murmured.

"So worth it though." Adelaide smirked, giving a little fist-bump to Sirius as he smirked beside her.

"At least they're singing her favorite song now..." Remus added as the four boys behind them began to sing _'A Cauldron Full of Hot Strong Love.'_

The group was eventually sentenced to Detention that evening... at 7pm... the exact same time Adelaide and Sirius would be with Dumbledore, much to the other three's disgruntlement.

Remus was still grumbling as they made their way toward charms class after lunch, not that anyone but Peter was really listening at this point. "Surely they'll reschedule it, right?! Right?!"

Adelaide ignored his question as she spotted Lily Evans down the hall. She ran to catch up with her wearing a big grin. Since she had been planning and preparing for the prank for most of the morning and into the afternoon, she hadn't actually been able to say hello to her auburn haired best friend all day.

"Hey Lil—"

Adelaide was cut short by the screeching of a seething Lily Evans. "Don't you ever get tired of being a complete baboon, Adelaide Fawley!?"

Adelaide blinked a few times. "Do I ever— Bab—What?" she stuttered out in total shock.

"Why do you insist on pranking my best friend all the effing time?!" she asked, arms flailing. Her bright green eyes were wild, her nostrils flared dangerously as she huffed loudly. "What has he ever done to deserve the kind of things you do to him and his friends?!"

"Well its really—"

"Do you think it's funny to bully people Adelaide?!" she asked, not waiting for the blonde's reply.

"I mean—"

"I would expect you, _YOU_ of all people to understand!" Lily ranted. "I really don't know how I can be best friends with a bully Adelaide." she said coldly, turning away, crossing her arms over her chest.

Adelaide felt like the wind had been knocked out of her lungs. She stood paralyzed, not by magic, but by the weight and seriousness of Lily's tone. "Lily it's— it's not like that—" she said desperately.

"It _is_ like that Adelaide." Lily said, walking into the classroom, leaving Adelaide to stand still as a statue in the middle of the hallway.

"Addykins... are you okay?" Sirius asked, waving a hand in front of her unfocused eyes. "Earth to Addy..."

Adelaide blinked. "I-I Lily— baboon— sh-she said she couldn't..."

Sirius looked almost amused. "Words Fawley. Words and sentences, love."

"Lily called me a baboon... and a bully... and said she didn't know if she could be my friend anymore." She said absently, finally looking toward his grey eyes, tears threatening to spill from her own.

Sirius brought her in for a large, comforting hug. Her head rested on his chest, breathing in the scent of fresh laundry with a hint of leather that seemed to follow him. She was so distracted by the fact that the boy she fancied was holding her and smelled so good, that she nearly forgot why she was upset In the first place. However, as she pulled away, catching a glimpse of Lily glaring at her from inside the classroom, she remembered quite clearly.

"It's about Snivellus, isn't it?" Sirius said with a sad smile, believing that Adelaide's flushed face was attributed to her emotional state. Adelaide nodded shyly, tucking her hair behind her ear. "Why is she just now getting upset about it?" he asked.

"I dunno... " she shrugged. "The prank today seemed to set her off…"

"Did you tell her we only did it because they were tormenting that first year Hufflepuff last week?" Sirius asked.

"Well… she didn't seem all that interested in my reasoning…"

"Hmm… Well I'm sure she'll come around, don't worry Ads." he said reassuringly.

"Do you think we could cut down on the pranking... not in general, just of _him..._ at least until she isn't pissed off at me anymore?" she asked.

"I mean... Good luck trying to convince James," he chuckled. "but I'll back off if you want me to... not that he deserves it, slimy sneaky snaky git—"

"Not helpful." she said quickly.

Sirius gave a sheepish smile. "Sorry... Well at least your next class is Charms! That autta cheer you up!" he tried.

"Meh... You're probably right."

It did not cheer her up. Which was ironic, considering they were covering cheering charms that day.

After double Charms and a painfully boring lesson in History of Magic over witch hunts, Adelaide found herself moping at the Gryffindor table, stabbing her rotisserie chicken with her fork between bites of mashed potatoes, whilst mumbling to herself.

James winced a little as she gave a particularly fierce jab to the poor poultry. "What's with you Ads?"

Adelaide gave him an annoyed look and took a big bite of _his_ mashed potatoes. "I'm fine." she said with her mouth full.

"You're gross." some first year boy beside them said, looking at her disapprovingly.

"Shut it pipsqueak! Better run away while you can, apparently I'm a big horrible bully!" she snapped. The boy looked at her like she was a crazy person and scooted a little further down the table.

Sirius sighed. "Evans told Adelaide she was a bully for pranking Snivellus—"

"And a Baboon! Don't forget the baboon!" she said waving her fork around wildly.

James still looked confused, dodging bits of mashed potatoes being flung from her fork. "Okay, so? She calls me that stuff all the time—"

"But you're not her best friend Prongs! You're just the boy who annoys her all the bloody time!"

"Okay, that stung... but I see your point." He acquiesced.

"But now she doesn't know if she can be friends with me anymore!" she exclaimed. "...Am I really a bully?" She asked pitifully. "He-he's never nice to me, even when I tried being friends with him last year. And it's not like we really hurt him... right? And they deserved what they got today! They were terrorizing that muggle-born Hufflepuff! She was only a first year, she didn't even know the counter jinx!"

Remus looked awfully uncomfortable. Truthfully, he agreed with Lily. The only reason he went along with any of the other's schemes was out of gratefulness for their friendship. So, instead of voicing his opinion, he kept quiet on the particularly nasty pranks, and went along with whatever the others cooked up.

"You're not a bully Addy." Sirius said rubbing soothing circles on her back. "A baboon?... Maybe..." He smirked.

Adelaide glared at him.

"But a beautiful baboon." he qualified sending her a wink, feeling oddly satisfied as he watched her blush slightly.

"Oh shut up." She grumbled, taking a big bite of chicken as she tried to hide her smile.

"I mean it!" he said with a wide smile lighting up his whole face. "You're the prettiest baboon I've ever had the pleasure of meeting!"

"Hey! What about me?!" James complained.

"She's prettier than you." Sirius shrugged. Adelaide's face flushed a bit more, causing James to eye her curiously.

Remus cleared his throat. "So, um... I have something I need to probably tell you all..." he said awkwardly, earning quizzical looks from all around. "You all know about Slughorn's big Christmas party next week...?"

"Of course, Sirius won't shut up about— Ow!" James cried out as Sirius kicked him under the table.

"Okay, anyways... I um… I sort of… accidentally… I asked Amelia Bones to go with me."

Adelaide stared at him with her jaw hanging open, giving Remus a spectacular view of her half-chewed dinner.

"We're going as friends... I think." He said with a worried look. "It sort of just happened..."

"Merlin's knickers! That's awesome Moony! She's so sweet!" Adelaide gushed, completely forgetting her best friend woes.

"I wanna go..." James whined like a spoiled child. "Do you think Lily will ask me to go?"

"Not even in your dreams" Sirius said quickly, while Adelaide and Remus laughed at the thought.

"Well thanks for the honesty..." he grumbled.

"Addy, you got invited too, didn't you?" Peter asked. Adelaide nodded through a mouthful of a dinner roll. "Who are you taking?"

"No one." She mumbled with her mouth full.

James made a pointed look at Sirius, who remained oddly quiet on the matter, despite the fact that he too was invited, then smirked. "Why don't you ask the guy you— Ouch!" he exclaimed as Adelaide kicked him in the shins. " Would you lot please stop kicking me?!"

"So, um. We should really be going now..." Sirius said awkwardly to Adelaide.

"But I'm not done eating James's potatoes!" she protested, reaching over the table with her fork dangerously close to James's plate.

James let out an indignant yelp, moving the plate into the air and out of her reach. "No, she's done! Please just take her away!"

Adelaide pouted.

Sirius gave her a pat on the back. "I'll give you a piggyback ride Ads, but only if we leave right now."

Adelaide looked between the potatoes on James's plate and Sirius several times, but finally sighed. "Fine, let's go." she muttered, hopping onto his back.

After a short walk and a lovely chat with Gary the Gargoyle, Adelaide and Sirius finally made it to Professor Dumbledore's office.

"Welcome, welcome. I do apologize for the delay… things have been somewhat hectic…" the old wizard said cryptically.

"Yes, yes… I'm sure they have been," Adelaide said somewhat sarcastically. "Now, what's the lesson for the day?"

"First, we will be working on controlling your wandless magic… Mr. Black, you may take a seat." he said waving his wand to conjure a squashy armchair that Sirius gladly took up residence upon.

"Adelaide, I do believe you mentioned in our last meeting that you have only ever performed wandless magic while in a highly emotional state… Is that correct?"

"Yes." she said stiffly.

"Not uncommon… many children experience accidental magic under such circumstances, but what is uncommon, is to use a specific spell as you do…" he said slowly. "Now, what I would like for you to try to do today is levitate this feather," he said conjuring a large fluffy feather. "—using only wandless magic."

Adelaide's deep set eyes became hawk-like in intensity, staring down the feather like it was her prey. She raised her left hand that usually held her wand, and pointed her finger toward the feather upon the ground in front of her. With a swish and a flick of her finger, she said, " _wingardium leviosa._ "

The feather twitched slightly, but did not levitate, causing Adelaide to let out a frustrated stream of nearly profane utterances.

"Addy, it was just the first try!" Sirius said reassuringly.

She tried again, and again, and again… each time successfully riling her up more and more, causing the feather to nearly lift itself up. Finally, on the tenth try she all but screamed the incantation and watched as the feather flew up in the air, more perfectly than if she had used a wand.

"Do you see my issue?!" she said to the old wizard, gesturing to the still floating feather sassily.

"Yes, but you simply need to learn to control your emotions Miss Fawley… I believe that the more you improve with your Occlumency skills, the more your wandless magic will improve as well." he said thoughtfully.

"Well then let's get on with that then!" she huffed bossily. Dumbledore was almost used to it by now.

He quickly conjured two more armchairs for him and the girl beside Sirius. "Please take a seat." he said politely. Adelaide flopped into the seat with a pout. "Now, I would like you both to clear your mind of all emotions."

Of course getting her worked up was all part of his plan, she thought to herself.

"Adelaide, you will go first— I will attempt to penetrate your mind, and you will attempt to resist."

Adealide took a deep breath, feeling the fabric of the armchair, the smell of old and dusty books laying around the office, listening only to the sounds of her breath as the air moved in and out of her lungs. Then she felt the faint sensation of someone trying to pry into her thoughts… she shut down all feeling, staring the old wizard straight into his twinkling blue eyes. It was like her mind was under lock and key; she would not budge.

She felt as he began to move toward the memories of her and Riddle, but she redirected him toward some benign memory of her picking flowers when she was little… and smirked. Then Dumbledore moved on toward a memory she very much wanted to forget… the memory of her last Christmas… The memory of her being tortured by her mother.

"Stop it." she said quietly shutting her eyes, glimpses of the memory flashing in her mind as Dumbledore pushed forward. Sirius looked on in concern, and grabbed her hand. It seems that was enough to ground her. She pushed Dumbledore's mind away from her own with a sudden burst of strength— too much.

Suddenly visions of a young girl filled her minds eye, along with a man with two different colored eyes; a man that looked an awful lot like Gellert Grindelwald was looking back at a younger Dumbledore through the strange mirror she had stumbled upon with Sirius the night they first helped Moony.

"Enough." Dumbledore said quietly, standing up. "That's quite enough… I think we are done for the day Miss Fawley."

"Done?! We can't be done! You haven't helped Sirius!"

"I believe you will be of more help to him than I… Now, it's high time you two head back for bed— don't want to be found out and about after hours." he said softly, in forced calmness.

"No! But the Mirror! I've seen it before!" she said as the wizard led them out, acting as if she said nothing at all.

"What in the world…" she murmured, looking back at Gary as Dumbledore retreated back up to the office.

"What the hell just happened back there Ads?!" Sirius asked incredulously.

"I think I accidentally read his mind…" she said quietly.


	61. Chapter 61

**Chapter 61- Being Best Friends and All**

James took a big bite of his liquorish wand. "Grindelwald? You're sure it was him?"

"I mean, it looked a lot like him from the pictures I've seen..." Adelaide trailed off, taking a swig of some butterbeer they smuggled into the castle the week before.

"But the girl? Who was she?" Remus asked just before biting the head off of a chocolate frog.

"Whoever it was, it really seemed to rattle him." Sirius shrugged, taking a big gulp of Adelaide's butterbeer, much to her annoyance.

The Marauders had been up for _hours_ listening to Adelaide and Sirius tell and _retell_ the exciting events that transpired during the others' detention; dissecting every detail, as they were prone to do.

"Figures that while we're stuck dusting stupid bookcases, you're off reading the mind of the greatest wizard of all time." James scoffed.

"It's a little strange that it keeps happening though... First Riddle, now Dumbledore..." Peter trailed off lost in thought as he shoved a handful of fudge flies into his mouth.

It _was_ strange, Adelaide thought, that she was able to see his thoughts at all. Could she be a legilimens and not know it? Maybe she just hadn't really tried before...

"Ads... why are you staring at me like that?!" Sirius exclaimed upon noticing Adelaide's burning gaze.

"Trying to read your mind." She muttered.

The other boys all laughed at Sirius's look of utter horror. "No no no! No fishing around in my brain!" Sirius said, throwing his hands over his head, as if this would shield his thoughts.

"Addy, you're wasting your time trying to read _his_ mind..." James smirked.

"Shush! I think I can do it!" She said impatiently, predatory gaze still firmly fixed on her best friend as he tried to fend her off with a pillow.

"No! Ads! You're wasting your time because there's nothing going on up there!" James said emphatically.

A beat passed.

Sirius looked utterly indignant.

Then all the Marauders (minus Sirius) broke out into violent fits of laughter.

"It wasn't even that funny!" Sirius complained.

Adelaide wiped a tear from her eye, still chuckling. "B-but your face! It was priceless!" she said, dissolving back into giggles just at the memory.

"Out, Fawley!" Sirius said dramatically, pointing toward the door.

Adelaide looked confused. Was he really trying to kick her out?! "No! You can't kick me out!"

Peter looked between the two... wondering if a fight was about to break out.

"Oh yes I can! This is the _boys_ dorm!" He said, noticing a thought flicker in Adelaide's eyes.

"So, you're saying I have to leave because I'm a _girl_?" She asked innocently.

"Y-yes." Sirius's said with as much confidence as he could. This was a terribly thought out plan, he thought—there was a very good chance she would hex him.

"Well then, let me just solve that issue." She smirked.

"Solve wha— oh come on!" Sirius said to the fluffy white cat purring on the floor in front of him.

"She bested you at your own game, Pads." Remus smirked. "Goodnight Ads!"

" _Meow_."

Adelaide lazily padded her way across the room and onto Sirius's bed, cozying up beside his pillow.

"No! Ugh... you're going to get cat hair all over everything..." he grumbled.

 _"Meow."_

As annoyed as he was acting, deep down Sirius was literally dying at how cute she was. "Well move over at least!" He said with a reluctant smile. Adelaide scooted over to give him plenty of room, then snuggled herself into a ball and fell asleep at his side.

To be honest, it was the best nights sleep either one of them had had in a long time... until it wasn't.

Adelaide (the cat) woke up with a start, she looked over to see Sirius twitching in his sleep, mumbling softly, sweating slightly, with his brows furrowed.

She quickly transformed into her human self, dressed in sweats and a big t-shirt, and began to softly move the hair from his face. "Pads... Sirius... Siri wake up... it's just a bad dream..." she said, now trying to nudge him awake as the dream seemed be taking a turn for the worse.

He mumbled incoherently, swatting her away.

"Sirius, it's just a dream...Come on... Wake up..." she said soothingly, trying to shake him awake. She hated it when he did this to her, but it seemed to be effective, in her case at least.

Sirius's eyes fluttered open, his breath heavy as he tried to reconcile the image in front of him with the horrific scenes from his dream. "A-addy? Y-you're okay?"

Adelaide smiled sadly and nodded, still moving the hair from his eyes. "Yeah. I'm okay Pads."

Sirius felt his lip quiver as he sat up. He tried hard to keep it together, but he was just so relieved to know it was all just a dream. A few silent tears rolled down his cheeks as he studied her face, room only dimly lit by the light of the half-moon that hung in the sky just beyond the window. "You're okay." he said, mostly to himself. "...I'm sorry I tried to kick you out Addykins." he said sincerely.

Adelaide let out a soft chuckle. "It's okay."

"No, I didn't mean it Ads." he said, wanting her to understand.

"I know you didn't, Siri." she said with a smile.

"Siri?" he asked playfully. "That's new."

Adelaide shrugged. "You call me 'Addykins', I thought you needed something too. Siri is the most annoying thing I could think up." she smirked.

"Well the jokes on you, because I like it." he said smugly, causing Adelaide to roll her eyes as she pulled her messy hair up into a bun. "I need you to teach me how to do that." he said, pointing at her top knot of almost-white hair.

Adelaide let out a breathy laugh. "Maybe another night..."

Sirius nodded, looking a little disappointed.

"Pads... are you okay? That dream seemed a little intense..." she whispered.

"I'm okay... Better having you around to be honest... I probably would have had to go find you anyway." he shrugged.

Adelaide gave him an empathetic look. She knew exactly how he felt. She knew all too well what it was like to wonder if it was a dream or reality; to not know for sure what was real until she saw his face. "We're pretty screwed up, huh?"

"Meh... I think it adds to our charm." he winked.

Adelaide let out a soft snort. "You're charming, I'm just good at charms."

"You can be charming... you have that whole endearingly awkward vibe going for you." he smirked.

Adelaide opened her mouth in mock shock, with her hand over her heart. "Excuse me! I am not awkward!"

"Meh... You're a little awkward. You need to learn how to take a complement." he said honestly, in a softer tone. He had always wished that she could accept just how extraordinary she was.

"I-I can take a complement..."

Sirius smiled mischievously. "No you can't..."

"Yes I can!" she hissed.

"Addykins, have I told you just how beautiful you are lately?"

Adelaide's face turned bright red, thankfully it wasn't too noticeable in the dimly lit room. "Shut up." she said out of instinct.

Sirius pointed at her in triumph. "See! You can't do it!" he chuckled softly.

"Well it's a little hard when you're so ridiculous about it!" she griped as he continued to chuckle. Suddenly, an idea began forming in her mind. "Siri, have I told you just how handsome you are?" she said sincerely.

"Liar. You think I'm a hideous hound." he said rolling his eyes. Adelaide smiled smugly. "Dammit."

"See! You can't take a complement either!"

"Well mine was at least true!"

Adelaide shrugged nonchalantly. "So was mine."

Sirius's face flushed and he cleared his throat. "Um... well then thank you." he said awkwardly.

"You're welcome." she said with a satisfied smile. "Well, I'm going to go back to sleep now... if that's okay?"

"Yeah, I suppose. But I'm not moving, so either turn back into Tuffy or scoot over." he smirked.

"Tuffy it is!"

* * *

The next day, while Adelaide made her way to Potions, she tried to catch up with Lily to explain what happened with Severus, and possibly apologize if she was feeling particularly guilty.

"Lily! Wait up!" She called out loudly, flailing her arms in the air.

Lily ignored her and walked into the classroom, leaving Adelaide standing sadly as she watched her go.

"You okay there Fawley?" asked a familiar voice.

Adelaide looked over to see the fourth year, strawberry blonde Hufflepuff, Edgar Bones. "Erm... not really." she said honestly with an awkward smile.

Edgar frowned slightly. "What happened?" he asked, bright blue eyes full of genuine concern.

"My friend is upset with me... But I probably deserve it." she shrugged. "I pranked one of her friends... Several times..."

Edgar nodded. "Well if she's really your friend, I'm sure she'll forgive you." he said with a reassuring smile.

Sirius walked up about this time, spotting the two, who had begun to catch up and chat about Quidditch—not that he was eves dropping or anything—and tried his hardest not to intervene. James just had a long chat with him the other day, explaining how it was rude to butt in on Adelaide's conversations all the time. He was quite happy to see the stupid friendly Hufflepuff finally leave, but less happy to see him give Adelaide a hug.

He sat in his chair, pouting slightly with his head in his hand as his arm rested upon the table.

"You look chipper." Adelaide teased, poking his cheek as she sat beside him.

Sirius grunted.

"Oh come on! It's Friday!" she said, giving him a smile, bumping shoulders with him. Sirius folded his arms over the desk and rested his chin down on top of them. "Stop being such a grump." she said with a mock pout.

Sirius looked over at her, trying very hard not to smile. "Stop pouting like that." he mumbled.

Adelaide pouted even more dramatically, causing Sirius to laugh. "Stop it!" he said, giving her a playful shove, causing her to laugh. "So, how was Edward or what ever his name is?"

"Edgar?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "He was fine." she half-shrugged, pulling out her potions book and flipping to the page indicated on the board for the Confusing Concoction. "He did ask if I was going to Sluggy's party next week." she said casually.

"Wait, what?" Sirius asked, trying to stay calm.

She shrugged again, frowning at how difficult the potion, they were brewing that day was. "Yeah, I told him I was... This stupid potion is going to be impossible." she grumbled.

Sirius opened his own book, heart beating faster than usual as he looked over at her. He opened his mouth to speak, but then closed it again, running his hands through his hair. "I'm sure we'll be fine..."

"Hey, so if I grab the ingredients, can you cut them up?" she asked hopefully.

Sirius rolled his eyes. Potions were never really one of her strong suits... not that he would ever admit this to her. "Of course." he smirked.

"Oh you're the bestest Siri!" she winked, skipping off to grab the ingredients, not even noticing the goofy grin on his face as he watched her go.

Sirius nearly jumped out of his skin as Marlene Mckinnon sauntered up next to him. "So? Did you ask her?" she smirked.

"Keep your voice down! And no. Not yet." he hissed.

"Well you better hurry... I heard that Hufflepuff—" Marlene stopped mid sentence as Adelaide returned, giving them both a confused look as she set the ingredients down on the table. "Just hurry up, okay?" she finished before going off to sit beside Mary.

"What was she talking about?" Adelaide asked as she sat back down.

Sirius silently cursed Marlene and her complete inability to be discreet. "We're working on a project together for Divination, I haven't finished my part yet." he lied.

Adelaide looked unconvinced. "If you say so... Now cut these up please." she said shoving some Sneezewort in front of him.

"Anything for you Addykins!" he winked.

The girl rolled her eyes as she tucked her hair behind her ears. "So, I'm pretty sure Lily's still mad at me... or 'disappointed' at least."

Sirius paused his chopping. "Still?" he asked looking at her.

"Keep chopping!" Adelaide said bossily. "I tried to talk to her... but she just won't listen..." she said pouting ever so slightly, glancing over to the red head across the classroom.

Sirius resumed his chopping. "Well, I'm sure when you explain the whole situation, she'll come around."

"I still think we should call off the bubble prank on Snivellus for now..." she said thoughtfully. James had a particularly sudsy prank planned that involved giving Severus's hair a good washing.

Sirius let out a short laugh. "Good luck getting James to agree to that."

"Why does James hate him so much anyway?" Adelaide asked, scooting some Scurvy Grass his way as he finished cutting the last ingredient.

Sirius shrugged whilst he chopped. "Probably because Snivellus fancies her."

"What?! No... There's no way!" she said, sparing a glance at the pair in question as they worked on their potion together. Now that she thought about it... he did seem to be rather attentive toward her.

"Oh he definitely does." Sirius said without even looking up. "Pass the Lovage please... I need to get the seeds out of those little buggers."

Adelaide pursed her lips, still thinking about the greasy headed snake fawning over her best friend, and handed him the celery-like plant. She shook her head to clear her mind of the disturbing thoughts. "So, what do you want for Christmas?" she asked with a smile, putting her chin in her hands, elbows rested on the table.

Sirius looked up at her and lost focus for a few seconds, but quickly resumed de-seeding. "Well a motorbike would be grand." he smirked.

Adelaide rolled her eyes. "Be serious!"

"Always am." he said immediately.

"Ughh! Just tell me what you want!" she pouted.

"I want you to stop pouting." he smirked, knowing he was really pushing her buttons now.

She gave him a little shove. "You're so annoying."

* * *

The weekend passed uneventfully, especially since Adelaide demanded that James cancel the prank on Severus. By time Tuesday rolled around, Adelaide was nearly despondent that Lily still wouldn't talk to her.

James couldn't bare to see the girl he loved like a little sister look so sad, so he decided to do something about it.

"Evans, please just listen!"

"No, Potter!"

"But Evans it's been days... she misses you!" James said desperately, voice echoing in the empty corridor where he had tracked Lily down using the map.

Lily felt her resolve waver just a fraction. Truthfully, she missed Adelaide too. She knew she was right... but she also knew she overreacted; not even allowing Adelaide to speak.

"I miss her too... but that doesn't change what she did!"

James looked defeated. "If this is about the big prank last Thursday, you should know that we only did it because _they_ cornered some muggle-born first year the week before, and just left her in the middle of no where with a tripping jinx. She could hardly walk when Addy found her."

Lily looked on with wide eyes. "But Sev wasn't with them—"

"Yes he was." James said through gritted teeth. "You don't see the way he is when your not around Evans, how his friends are..."

"Sev wouldn't do that to a muggle-born!" She said, masking her doubt.

James let out a humorless laugh. "Well he did."

"How do you even know he was there if Addy found her?"

"Well besides the fact that the girl literally _told us_ he was with them, we have other ways of knowing." He finished cryptically. Truth be told, they were stalking him on the map to initiate a prank.

"Oh yes, I forgot about all your mysterious 'ways of knowing'." She scoffed. "How do you know it wasn't someone else? She could have been wrong—"

"Well unless it was another greasy, hook nosed freak—"

Lily began to walk away furiously, followed soon after by James. "Lily! Wait! I'm sorry! I shouldn't have used that word!" He said quickly. "Please! I know you don't like it! I'm sorry!"

Lily was a bit taken aback. She had never told him that the word 'freak' bothered her... "How did you know...?"

"Well I've noticed you get upset when other people say it for years... but the boggart kind of confirmed it." He said awkwardly, ruffling the back of his hair.

Lily blinked. She didn't know whether to be flattered that he noticed something like that, or worried that he was actually stalking her.

"Evans, please just talk to her." He pleaded softly.

Lily pursed her lips together. "Fine. But that doesn't mean I forgive her just yet."

"You're the best Lils!" He grinned. "Any chance you want to take me to Slughorns party?" He asked, wiggling his eyebrows.

"No! Now go away!" She said, rolling her eyes.

"Wait! I have something else I need to ask you!"

"Well hurry up and ask, I'm supposed to be meeting Marlene in the library!"

"I'll be quick, I promise!" Lily tapped her foot impatiently. "I know you and Ads haven't been on real good terms lately, but do you happen to know if she's taking anyone to Sluggy's Christmas Party?"

"You're not going to ask her too are you?"

"Why, you jealous?" He smirked. Lily began to walk away. "Ugh! Lily it's not for me! I um— I know someone else who wants to ask her..."

Lily turned back and raised an eyebrow. "Oh really?"

"Yes really, now do you know or not?"

"I don't, but Mary would. Those two have been giggling about her dress for ages. I would try asking her." She said whilst walking backwards down the hall.

"You're the best, Evans!"

* * *

On Wednesday evening Adelaide waltzed into the common room looking happier than a bowtruckle in a Wiggentree. She bounced onto the squashy couch near the fireplace beside Remus and Peter. Mary had just gone up for bed after having a long conversation with James, who was now whispering with Sirius in the corner.

"Who are you and what have you done with our moody Addy?" Peter joked.

"Ah! She's gone! The world is right again!" She said smiling and putting her arms over the back of the couch.

"So, is this your way of saying that Lily's your friend again?" Remus asked, putting down his book.

"Yes!" She squealed. "It was so weird! I was just moping in the library and she came up to me and apologized for not letting me explain. So then I did explain, and apologized... profusely... and now we're best friends again!" She said with a big smile, catching the eye of Sirius across the room, giving him a wave to join them. James smirked.

Sirius made us way over to the couch and listened to Adelaide recount her conversation with the huffy redhead... stomach in knots the whole time.

Slowly the other boys dwindled away, until it was just him and Adelaide... With Marlene smirking from afar.

"Well..." Adelaide yawned. "I should probably head up too..." she said sleepily.

"Yeah... it's pretty late..." Sirius said almost nervously.

As the two walked toward the stairs, Adelaide vaguely noticed Sirius become more tense all of a sudden. "Um.. Well I should be off..." she said, about to move toward the girls' stairs.

"Wait!" Sirius said quickly, voice strained. He ran a hand through his tussled mop of curly hair, little locks still falling into his eyes. Curiosity began to stir within Adelaide as she turned to face him in expectation. "Um so... you know Sluggy's Christmas party is coming up..."

"Yeah, of course!" she giggled. "I have the _perfect_ dress all planned out." She gushed looking off into the distance, thinking of said beautiful dress. Her eyes quickly made their way back to Sirius, who seemed even more uncomfortable. "Sorry, I know that's usually the stuff I talk about with Mary." She said with a slightly awkward chuckle.

"Oh! No, it's fine!" He said with a _very_ awkward chuckle. "I um... well I just thought that maybe since we're both going anyway... we could um... maybe.. um... g-go together?"

That was the last thing she was expecting him to say, though it really shouldn't have been.

"I mean, I get it if you'd rather go with Jack or Edgar or something—" he rambled. "You know what, just forget I even asked." He said looking away, wishing the floor would swallow him whole.

"But I want to go with you." She said softly.

Sirius's head whipped toward her, eyes alight. "Really?" he said grinning in disbelief.

"Of course!" She giggled. "You're my best friend, it'll be great!"

Something flashed in Sirius's eyes that made her sincerely regret saying the words 'best' and 'friend'. "Y-yeah, exactly." he smiled.

"Well then perfect! Um... well I should probably actually go to bed now..." she said heading toward the stairs once again.

"Wait! Um... what color is your dress?" He asked as she started climbing the stairs.

"Red." she told him, biting her lip to keep from grinning. Red happened to be Sirius Black's favorite color... after black of course.

"Addykins not wearing purple?! What is the world coming to?!" He called out melodramatically with a half smile.

"Would you rather I wear purple instead?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No!" He said a bit too quickly, then recovering smoothly. "No, you already have the other one all planned out. Too much trouble to switch everything up now... besides, you already said it was 'perfect'..." He shrugged, smirking. "How about we meet downstairs Friday, at six-thirty?"

"It's a date." she said teasingly, running off up the stairs before Sirius could see her face turn a violent shade of red. He was very grateful, for he too was sporting some rather rosy cheeks.

Sirius felt like he was floating, but he quickly landed on the ground when he saw Marlene staring him down, looking rather amused, a little ways away. She got up and walked straight toward him, smirking as always. Sirius vaguely wondered if she was even capable of smiling.

"I'm guessing by the the blushing and the goofy grin plastered on your face, she said yes."

"Yeah... She um... thought it was a great idea... being _best friends_ and all." He said faking a smile.

Marlene rolled her eyes. "Good Merlin! She fancies you. Trust me."

Sirius blushed even more, making his own way back to his dorm room. "Good night Marls."


	62. Chapter 62

**Chapter 62- DATE?!**

"I can't do this." Adelaide groaned in despair.

"Addy! I did not spend _two hours_ helping you get ready just for you to back out now!" Mary said, brandishing some mascara.

"I'm going to throw up." Adelaide said matter-of-factly. "It's going to happen. I'm going to throw up and then I am going to crawl in a hole and never come out." she nodded to herself. "Yup. That's my future and I've accepted it."

"You will not throw up and I refuse to let you crawl into hiding— we have the damn quidditch season to finish! Now you listen to me Adelaide Rose Fawley! You are going to go down there, you are going to hug your date—"

"DATE?! He never actually said it was a date!"

"Oh ho ho! It is most certainly a date!" Mary said a bit aggressively, causing Adelaide to make a face of the utmost despair.

"I can't do this. Just go down there and tell him I got the flu again—" Adelaide murmured, trying to hide in the wardrobe.

"NO! FOR MERLIN'S SAKE ADDY!" Mary yelled, pulling her out of the wardrobe by her forearm. "GRYFFINDOR UP AND GET YOUR ADORABLE SELF DOWNSTAIRS BEFORE I HAVE TO DRAG YOU DOWN MYSELF!"

This was just about the time Marlene Mckinnon walked in wearing her own party gown (she was going with a Ravenclaw slug clubber), looking at Adelaide with annoyance. "You realize it's like 6:45, right?" she said raising an eyebrow. "He's been down there for the past half-hour bugging me to come check on you— asked me to make sure you didn't have the flu again or something."

Adelaide looked back at her in horror. "I can't do this."

"Good Merlin. Why are you always so dramatic. You two are literally just going to hang out and make fun of people while being all dressed up. It's seriously not a big deal." she said rolling her eyes.

"But Mary said it was a date!"

Marlene wondered why she couldn't be in Ravenclaw with her brother, where all the logical people live. "That's what's bothering you? Fine, it's not a date! Just go downstairs." she said impatiently. "He's your best friend. I promise you'll be fine."

"Yeah Ads! You two hang out together all the time! Just pretend it's like when you sneak out to go to Hogsmeade!"

"MARY!" Adelaide exclaimed, making a pointed look at Marlene.

Marlene waved her hand dismissively. "Oh I know all about that. You are literally the most un-sneakiest person alive."

Adelaide blinked a few times.

"Addy. You look absolutely beautiful, and I'm not just saying that because I'm the one who dolled you up." Mary said sweetly. "You are going to have so much fun, I promise! And if you do happen to throw up, you can always obliviate him." she said with a smile, but completely serious.

Adelaide thought this over, and it seemed to do the trick. "Okay, I'll go." she said, as if this was actually up for discussion.

Marlene rolled her eyes and sighed, "Finally!" she exclaimed, running down the stair to finally catch up with her own date.

Adelaide took one last look in the mirror: Flowing light-blonde hair fell down to her waist in loose curls; Bright red fabric of her sleeveless gown cascaded down to just above her knees, flaring at the waist, with intricate glittering beading and lace in the form of poinsettias, ending with matching kitten heeled shoes; Make up, elegant and graceful, without being harsh as Mrs. Fawley's. No, her make up highlighted the delicate features of her face, and brought out the forest green in her eyes.

Adelaide clutched her small black coin purse and took a deep breath, then slowly made her way down the steps. If she could handle dinner and mind reading from the most powerful dark wizard on earth, surely she could handle this, right?

She almost made it down without tripping. _Almost_. Her ankle wavered and she stumbled slightly on the last step, but reflexively shot a smile, as if to tell the world all was well, even though internally she was _screaming_.

Her eyes looked up, expecting to have to scan the room for Sirius, but there he stood near the stairway, looking up at her with the dopiest grin she had ever seen. He was dressed in all black dress robes, hair tussled and curly, but a bit more subdued than usual. She made her way toward him, trying her hardest not to trip.

"Sorry I'm late... I um... I was having some issues with the shoes." she lied, tucking her hair behind her ear.

Sirius didn't say anything. He just kept smiling... Finally James (who was by his side smirking) nudged him in the ribs.

"Oh... Addykins... You look... wow."

Adelaide's face turned the color of her dress. "Well _thank you."_ she said pointedly, smirking a little. Ever since their little conversation, she had been making an exaggerated effort to accept complements better.

This seemed to break Sirius out of whatever spell he was under. "Well done Fawley! You're learning!" he smirked. "Ready to go?"

Adelaide nodded with a closed mouth smile.

The walk toward Slughorn's party was _awkward._

"So... um... I'm officially staying here for Christmas!" Adelaide said in a voice that didn't really sound like her own. "I um... put my name down with McGonagall and everything."

"Oh! Awesome! Um... me too... I erm... well I... I um... never mind."

Adelaide nodded. This was a disaster. A total disaster. And it was all her fault. Or, so she thought.

Meanwhile, Sirius was thinking the exact same thing.

"Um... So I guess Moony already left?" Adelaide said, ending in an awkward cough. Why was she coughing? She didn't even need to cough...

"Y-yeah... um he went down to erm... the Hufflepuff whatever... for um Amelia..." Sirius said, wringing his hands together. Why was he having such a hard time speaking?! He literally talks non-stop.

"Oh yeah... c-cool..." she trailed off, but then she remembered something somewhat interesting. "I heard there's going to be chocolate cake!" she said enthusiastically, adding a little bounce in her step... which led to her tripping.

"Woah!" Sirius grabbed her by the waist, pulling her towards him before she could actually fall. He paused, momentarily lost in his thoughts of how pretty she looked from up close. Her big green eyes looking up at him, her soft lips parted slightly, the way she smelled like lavender and vanilla. It was too much.

He quickly snapped himself out of it, removed his hands from her waist quicker than the speed of light and scooted away so that there was plenty of room between them.

Adelaide felt a little caught off guard. One second he was kind and chivalrous, the next he's avoiding her like she had dragon pox. She hid her annoyance and hurt for his coldness and continued their walk in awkward silence until they finally reached the door.

The room was crowded and stuffy, with the ceiling and walls draped in emerald, crimson and gold hangings, as if they were in a large tent of some sort. The booming loud music issued from a distant corner, and the air smelled of sweat, pipe smoke and butter beer.

Adelaide and Sirius navigated their way through the crowd of people, both desperately searching for someone to save them from their own awkwardness. "Ah! Miss Fawley! Come come! There's someone I would like you to meet." Chuckled a clearly tipsy Professor Slughorn standing beside a small tan woman with short dark hair, wearing green robes.

Adelaide flashed a look at Sirius, forgetting that she was an awkward mess on a date, and suddenly remembering she was with her best friend and fellow Quidditch fan. "Sirius! Siri do you see who that is!?" she hissed, hardly containing her excitement, squealing a little with her hands over her mouth.

"Good Merlin! It's actually her!" Sirius squealed as well.

They instantly ran toward Slughorn and his most honored guest.

"Oh my goodness Gwendolyn Morgan! You're Gwendolyn Morgan! THE Gwendolyn Morgan!" Adelaide prattled on. "Gwendolyn Morgan, the most bad ass chaser EVER!" she squeaked, ignoring Slughorn entirely.

Gwendolyn Morgan laughed at her exuberance. "Yes, I am Gwendolyn Morgan! And who might you be?"

"She's Adelaide Rose Fawley, also known as the most bad ass chaser at Hogwarts." Sirius said proudly, lopping an arm over her shoulders. Adelaide was too star-stuck to even have the decency to blush.

"I can't believe you're here! I'm such a big fan! Oh my merlin!" Adelaide continued to gush, bouncing on her toes. She was so happy she could die— or cry— or both.

"Adelaide?! You're the one that took that nasty fall, right?" the small woman asked.

Adelaide had a minor heart-attack. Gwendolyn Morgan knew she fell off her broom. What if she thought she was a total idiot who just fell off her broom willy nilly! A total quidditch dunce! A disgrace to the name of chasers everywhere!

"I— I um..." Adelaide stuttered out.

"She is, but she literally made every single shot before that." Sirius said, beaming with pride. "She made nearly half our points that game."

"Oh! I know! I was there! You were bloody brilliant!" Gwendolyn chuckled.

Adelaide gripped Sirius's arm for support, she was very certain she was close to fainting.

"And you were one of the announcers— Sirius, right?" the woman asked.

"Yes ma'am!"

"Oh you and that other girl were hilarious!" she exclaimed.

"Oh, that was Mary! She's Addy's Best Friend..." he paused. "But I'm her bestest friend." he said confidently. Adelaide was too busy staring at Gwendolyn Morgan in reverential awe to even really listen. Sirius looked over at her, then back to the woman with a half smile. "She's a really big fan. You're sort of the reason she tried out." he told her.

The woman looked back at him curiously, "How so?"

"Well you see, Addy here has the best arm on her since Petrova Porskoff, but she was worried that she was too small to be a chaser... But I told her about how much of a bad ass you were, _and_ how you were tiny too, and well... now here she is!"

Adelaide, at a loss for words, nodded aggressively at Sirius's words.

"Addy— can I call you Addy?" Gwendolyn asked.

Adelaide nodded violently.

Gwendolyn chuckled. "Addy, you have a rare talent... I honestly think that when you leave school you could find yourself in quite a predicament. Every team is going to want you... I know this because I'm a talent scout these days..." she said kindly. Adelaide nearly fainted again, her grip on Sirius was so tight that he was beginning to lose blood flow, not that he cared. "But Addy, do you know what is more rare than your insane natural talent?" Adelaide shook her head. "Having die hard loyal and supportive friends like this handsome fella beside you." she winked. Sirius nearly fainted.

Gwendolyn handed her a card with her information just before being pulled into a conversation with what seemed to be a vampire.

Adelaide slowly turned toward Sirius, wide eyed, smile stretched across her face. Sirius's eyes turned soft, noticing just how wonderful and infectious her smile was— how gorgeous and glowing she was in that very moment.

He smiled back at her, and gently moved a lock of her hair behind her ear. Then her eyes softened as well. She was just so absolutely perfect.

Suddenly he felt himself move closer. She didn't move away, but he wished she had. His brain was starting to go insane. He gulped. 'No', he thought to himself. 'No, I cannot think of her that way. She's my best friend. She is my adorable best friend that I very much want to kis—NO PADFOOT. NO. BAD PADFOOT!'

With a jolt, Sirius pushed her away abruptly.

Adelaide looked almost hurt. "Sirius, are you okay?"

"I-I..."

Nope. Definitely not okay.

"I'm fine, Ads." he lied, forcing a smile. "I um... I need to um... go... I'll meet you by the drinks..."

Adelaide looked hurt and confused. "You need to _go_? Go where?"

"Um.. to find Marlene. See you in a sec." he said running off to find the blonde girl in the bright blue dress. It wasn't difficult to find her as she was having a rather animated conversation with Blair Wood.

Meanwhile Adelaide stood alone, completely bemused, and looking for Remus... and maybe some tissues.

"Marlene! Marlene freaking McKinnon! I need to talk to you!" Sirius hissed.

"What is it?!" she asked impatiently, annoyed that she was being taken away from her conversation with Blair.

"It's about that _thing_ I told you about..." he said cryptically.

Marlene smirked. "Oh." she said simply, excusing herself from her conversation to go talk to the distraught boy in a mostly abandoned corner.

"I need you to help me!" he said, utterly exasperated.

"I already gave you my advice. It's not my fault you don't like it." she said smugly as she half shrugged.

Sirius let out a frustrated groan. "Please Marls!"

"Sirius, I told you already! Just tell her the truth!" she said emphatically for what felt like the billionth time.

Sirius let out a humorless laugh. "And what exactly do you expect me to say?" he said sarcastically.

"Oh I dunno." Marlene mocked thoughtfulness. "How about you start with the fact that you fancy her so much that it's borderline creepy?" she smirked.

"Not helpful." he said casting a glare. "And I am _not_ creepy!" he defended.

"Oh yes you are! You follow her around like a lost puppy." Marlene pointed out. " _Addykins! Oh Dear Addykins! Are you okay? Can I help you? Here let me do your homework! Oh you're tired? Here let me carry you up all these stairs my princess!"_ she teased.

"I do not act like that!" he hissed unconvincingly.

Marlene let out a loud laugh. "It's _exactly_ how you act! It's nauseating, especially since you are so ridiculously clueless to the fact that she's practically in love with you."

Sirius shoved his hands over his ears and started singing off key to tune her out. Marlene was very tempted to hex him for being a big baby.

"I still don't understand why you can't just tell her. It would make life so much less difficult for the rest of us!"

""I CAN'T! I told you I can't!"

"Why not?"

"I can't tell you that either."

Marlene threw her hands up in exasperation. "Well then I can't help you!"

"But you have to! I can't even think straight when she looks like that Marls!" he said so desperately that he was nearly in tears. "I can't get close to her without just spazzing out and pushing her away! Please! Just tell me what to do!"

"TELL HER YOU EFFING FANCY HER!" she hollered, thankfully her voice was muffled by an exuberant mandolin solo.

"I CAN'T!" he said furiously, running his hands through his hair. " I just can't!"

"Is this about the whole arranged marriage thing?" Marlene asked with her hands on her hips.

Sirius paled.

"Oh relax, I've known for ages— She and Mary blab about it all the time." she said rolling her eyes.

"Well that's a big part of it... but there's also the whole, 'she's my best friend and I would literally be nothing but a rotten tuna sandwich on the side of the road without her' thing." he said honestly. "But I also really really want to kiss her... all the time... and it's very troubling."

"Well then go find yourself some mistletoe and pucker up! I'm sure she'd be willing!"

"NO! I can't Marls! Even if she did fancy me—

"—Which she does—"

"— If things don't work out, it would ruin everything! Our whole friendship! And even if things work out, she could marry someone else..." he trailed off. No matter how many plans he made to break her out of that house, or how confident he was in front of her, deep down he was terrified that she would still have to go through with it. The thought alone felt like his heart was being hit by a stinging jinx.

"I get it. Things are complicated." Marlene said with more sympathy than he had ever heard her speak with. "But I really don't know how else to help you than to just tell you to keep your distance."

"Can't do that." he said quickly shaking his head.

"Well you'll just have to tough it out then..." she shrugged. "Good luck." she said patting him on the shoulder as she made her way back to her friends.

"Literally useless." he said to himself.

Sirius threw his head back in frustration, then hid behind a wall hanging, kicking the wall a few times.

"What the hell are you doing Padfoot?" asked the tired voice of Remus Lupin.

"Kicking a wall." Sirius muttered.

"No, with Addy. You just ditched her for Marlene... she's really hurt Pads."

"I shouldn't have asked her to come! I'm such an idiot!" Sirius exclaimed, running his hands through his hair.

Now Remus was upset. "Well then why did you?!"

Sirius turned around to look at him. "I-I didn't want her to go with someone else."

"So you control her life just to have her all to yourself— then when you do have her, you just treat her like shit, running off to some other girl while you're on a date! What the hell is wrong with you?!"

"EVERYTHING! EVERYTHING IS WRONG WITH ME! YOU THINK I DON'T KNOW ALL THIS?!" Sirius roared. " I know I'm no good for her! I'm no good for anyone! I get it! I screwed up! And guess what, it won't be the last time, because that's what I am: A big screw up! Sirius Black a massive effing disappointment!" he said furiously.

Remus blinked a few times, unsure what to say to calm him down.

"You're not a disappointment, you dramatic poodle." a gentle voice said. "I've got this Moons..."

"You sure?"

"I'm fine. Go talk to Amelia." she said softly, guiding him away from the little hidden corner. "Okay. Sit." she said, pointing to the ground by a window. Sirius looked akin to a kicked puppy as he sat down upon the stone floors.

"Ads I'm sorry—"

"Shush." she hushed. "I need you to look me in the eyes and shut up for a second, think you can manage?"

Sirius nodded, looking at her face.

"You, Sirius Orion Black the third are not a disappointment. You are not a screw up. You are literally the opposite. You are without a doubt the best person in my life. You keep me grounded, and support me when I'm being completely mental, and you are so bloody over protective it's almost infuriating. But you know what? I take it for granted most of the time. I forget that you are dealing with your own stuff too... and I'm really sorry for that."

Sirius sniffled. "If you keep making me cry, it's going to ruin my bad-boy reputation." he joked.

"Can't ruin something that doesn't exist." she chuckled.

Sirius looked up and studied her for a long moment, marveling at her melodic laugh, her gentleness, and the way she could calm him down like literally no one else on the planet, just by being her. "How are you so perfect?" he asked genuinely.

Adelaide blushed. "Magic?" she smirked. Sirius bumped shoulders with her, smiling down at his lap. "Are you going to tell me why you ran off to find Marlene?" she asked casually.

"Probably not."

"Alright." she said, letting the issue go. "Well, would you like to go dance, then maybe judge people's outfits while we eat cake?" she asked softly.

Sirius grinned. "Literally nothing would make me happier."


	63. Chapter 63

**Chapter 63- The Stupid Gryffindor**

Twas the night before Christmas and Adelaide and Sirius were all alone on the floor of the Gryffindor common room. Doing what? Charming nutcrackers to dance and squeak carols by the firelight, while pigging out on unhealthy amounts of peppermint toads and hot cocoa.

"Can we just camp out down here or something? I don't like being up there by myself..." Adelaide whined through a mouth full of candy, clutching her hot cocoa closer and giving a little shiver at the thought.

"Fine with me... It's weird being up there without Peter's snoring anyway." Sirius shrugged. Adelaide let out a snort like laugh then made the nutcrackers do a little twirl with her wand.

The other third year girls, as well as the other boys, had all gone home for Christmas. James and Mary both pleaded and begged Sirius and Adelaide respectively to come to their homes over the holiday, but to no avail. Honestly, Adelaide was quite tempted to take Mary up on her offer, but was terrified that her parents, or even Riddle would find out and make her a target of some sort. So, in order to protect Mary, she opted to stay at the castle. Sirius tried to convince her to come with him to the Potters at least, but failing to change her mind, he stayed to keep her company.

"I'm going to go grab my blanket and stuff real quick..." Adelaide said, hoisting herself up.

"Can't you just magic it here?" Sirius said lazily.

Adelaide stopped for a moment, deep in thought. "I suppose I could." she said slowly. She lifted her wand, scrunched her eyes closed, then summoned the comforter and feather pillow from her dorm down to the common room... knocking Sirius over in the process.

"Excuse you! A little warning would have been nice!" he grumbled.

"How about I bring your stuff down as well?" she smirked.

Sirius merely gave her an annoyed look, as he righted himself.

With a wave of her wand a feather pillow and a deep red comforter came zooming toward them... knocking him over again. "Really Addy?!" He said in annoyance.

Adelaide gave him an innocent smile... then whacked him over the head with a pillow when he wasn't looking.

"Oh you're going to get it now!" He said, smiling and looking at her with a mischievous glint in his eyes as he slowly lifted his pillow over his head.

With a leap, he launched himself toward her, landing a big thwack right on her shoulder. Adelaide ran away squealing and swatting him with her own pillow as he chased her around the room, jumping over chairs, scurrying under tables and vaulting over the couch—toppling the mug of hot cocoa in the process.

"Aw... I was still drinking that..." she sighed with a pout, looking down at the sad spilt drink with a few feathers in her hair.

"You can have mine." Sirius said quickly.

Adelaide smiled, then turned to look at him in order to say thank you... not expecting him to be nearly as close as he was. She looked up and saw his eyes soften... just like they did that night before he went absolutely mental on her. But this time he wasn't running away to Marlene; he was looking at her with a lopsided half-smile, close enough for her to smell the peppermint and chocolate on his breath. Close enough for her to see the little scar on his lip from the time Regulus mirrored her after his mother hurt him last year.

She felt him move even closer, and noticed his eyes flicker down to her lips. Her stomach was in knots and she was having a hard time breathing.

He was much too close.

Sirius lifted a hand to her hair and gently plucked out a feather, held it up for her to see, then swiftly moved away to clean up the spilled drink, leaving her a little woozy, frozen in place for a very long moment.

The two had an unspoken agreement to keep their distance after the 'feather incident,' talking from their respective couches until they were both yawning every other word.

The next morning, Adelaide awoke early—too early. She snuggled deeper into her cozy covers upon the squashy couch, letting the crackling of the roaring fire and the wind against the large windows of the tower gently lull her back to sleep. She was just drifting back into a truly splendid dream about taking a team photo with the Holyhead Harpies, when she was violently yanked out of her slumber by someone shaking her. She had a very good idea of who that someone would be.

"STOP IT SIRI!" she growled.

" NO! IT'S CHRISTMAS ADDYKINS! WAKE UP!"

Adelaide grumble growled unintelligibly into her feather pillow.

"Words Fawley! Words and sentences!"

"I SAID LEAVE ME ALONE!" She screamed with her eyes closed.

"No! ADDY! I want to open presents!" He whined.

"No one's stopping you." she mumbled.

Sirius whacked her with a pillow... several times. "GET—UP—!"

Adelaide creaked open an eyelid to see her best friend standing over her with his long curly black hair sticking up in strange places. Not being in the mood to hear him screech any longer, she raised her hand and murmured, " _Cantis_."

Sirius opened his mouth to beg her to get up again, but found himself singing instead.

 _"'Tis a snowy white Christmas morn!_

 _But without you I will be forlorn._

 _For what is Christmas without my best friend?_

 _Please please get up my sweet Addykins!_

 _You see of all the presents under the tree,_

 _The best of them all will be from me!_

 _It's pretty and special just like you,_

 _But I'm sure the other presents will be okay too..._

 _Oh Good Merlin will the singing never end?_

 _Please oh please un-jinx me my brilliant best friend!"_

Adelaide was fully awake at this point and laughing so hard that she ceased to even make a sound. It was more her making a scrunched up look of pain with short wheezing sounds sprinkled in here and there.

" _This is not the jinx that I would have preferred,_

 _But I suppose it's better than being attacked by birds."_

Sirius crooned with a smile, starting to add in some grand sweeping gestures.

" _Speaking of jinxes I'm glad you didn't choose,_

 _Let's not try out the one where you made hedgehogs out of shoes!"_

Adelaide was in tears now, still wheezing at Sirius's theatrical charade.

" _As lovely as it is to sing this tune,_

 _It would be more lovely to open presents with you!"_

"Oh alright, but for the record I like you better this way." She giggled, finally lifting the spell with a wave of her wand. "I'm quite certain that was the most I've ever laughed first thing in the morning." Adelaide said out of breath as Sirius beamed.

"Well I'm glad it put you in a good mood. Now... PRESENTS!" He cheered, throwing a fist in the air importantly.

They gathered their gifts in a big pile near the warm fireplace... they figured they could burn the wrapping paper and not give the House elves as much to clean up afterwords... it was a holiday after all.

"Merlin's beard Addy, do your parents always give you so much stuff?" Sirius asked looking at the massive pile of gifts. "Seems like more than last year."

Adelaide shrugged. "Yeah, but it's not all from them. Those are from the boys, those are from Lily and Mary, there's a few from Rob and his parents—"

"Wait. Rob? As in Pugface McGee? He gave you Christmas presents?"

"Well yeah?" She said, momentarily forgetting that she hadn't told Sirius that she and Rob wrote each other often.

"But you haven't seen him in ages! That's-that's weird Ads!"

"No, he owls me all the time. It would be weird if he asked what I wanted and didn't get me anything." She shrugged, remembering how she asked for a new quill.

" _He owls you all the time?"_ Sirius repeated, over enunciating every syllable with a crazy glimmer in his grey eyes. "What happened to no secrets!"

"Slipped my mind." she mumbled, digging through her stocking. "Ooo! Lipgloss!" she cheered, showing Sirius with a grin.

Sirius was very tempted to ask what would ever possess her to owl that human personification of a hippogriff turd, but lost all resolve when he saw how thrilled she was by her gloss stuff.

They both made their way through gift after gift. Amongst a plethora of other things, Adelaide received a broom servicing kit from Regulus, a book about drawing animals from Evan, a lunascope from her parents, an enchanted mirror to give her complements every morning from Mary, a homework planner from Lily, several comfy muggle band T-shirt's from Remus, candy and a sweet note from Peter, a book of jinxes and hexes from James, and an obnoxious hair pin with deep blue jewels from Robert Selwyn... instead of the blue quill she requested.

Finally, when there were only a few more presents left, Sirius handed her a small box neatly wrapped in purple paper with a soft smile.

"What is it?" she asked cheekily with a grin.

Sirius chuckled and rolled his eyes. "Just open it!"

Adelaide stuck her tongue out at him. "You're no fun!"

She then ripped open the paper to find a small black jewelry box. She looked up briefly to give him a quizzical expression, then brought her eyes back down to the box and carefully opened it. Inside lay a beautiful antique, oval shaped, golden locket with little purple and pearl flowers blooming upon the front.

"Oh merlin..." she said softly to herself, examining the delicate purple gems and the way the smooth metal felt in her hands.

Now, Adelaide was _not_ the type of girl to fawn over fancy jewelry and such. Years of growing up with beautiful things thrusted upon her in order to win her affection, had caused her to generally shy away from opulent trinkets. But this was different. Her affection had already been won— And this was clearly something he had worked very hard to find.

"The um the flowers are a special magical type of Amethyst." Sirius said, pointing to the small purple flowers upon the locket. "It's supposed to help with balancing your emotions and with bad dreams..." he said softly. "Plus it's purple." he winked.

Adelaide laughed. "Of course it's purple."

"Open it!" Sirius said with a grin, motioning towards the locket.

Adelaide then carefully pried the locket open, to see a small moving picture of her and Sirius laughing at Slughorn's Christmas Party.

"It's—It's perfect." she said with a dazed smile. "It's absolutely perfect. How do you even think this stuff up?!"

"There's actually another thing about it... erm... it has a healing protection type charm on it. It um... well if you got hurt while wearing it—I mean _really_ hurt—it would keep you alive. Or it should..." he shrugged.

Adelaide blinked then looked down at the little necklace, then smirked. "You know who will love this? Poppy."

Sirius laughed. "She's the one who helped me with the charm actually! Thought it was a great idea... especially since you seem to attract danger." he winked.

"She's not wrong." she shrugged.

"Marlene also helped... or tried to. I thought I would need a girl's opinion at the jewelry place. That's why she went to Hogsmeade with me that one time." he explained. "She was no help at all though!" he laughed.

"I'm guessing you decided to add the healing bit when I fell out of the sky." she snorted.

"No, I had that planned from the beginning." he said smiling and scratching the back of his neck.

"You did good Black." she said, putting the necklace on over her crimson pajamas. "My gift is going to be total rubbish after this though." she chuckled handing him the golden box.

"What is it?" he asked teasingly, mocking her voice.

"Oh ha ha, just open it!" she said rolling her eyes.

Sirius ripped through the paper, then opened the box within... only to find another box... then another... and another... "Good merlin! Is this some sort of prank Addy?"

"Meh, I figured I would toss two gnomes with one throw." she said casually.

"You have never tossed a single garden gnome in your entire life Adelaide Fawley."

"It's just an expression! I doubt you've actually seen Merlin's saggy left—"

"Okay! I get it!" Sirius said loudly, cutting her off. Adelaide seemed very pleased with herself.

She bit her lip to keep from laughing while Sirius continued to open box after box, until she could contain herself no more. "Oh Good Merlin! Stop!" She said doubled over in laughter. "Stop! The real one is over in the corner!"

Without thinking, she lifted a hand to summon the _real_ golden box, which gently zoomed toward them.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" She asked. "I promise this one isn't jinxed." She said worriedly.

"No, I mean that wasn't— Addy you just did wandless magic when you weren't mad or upset." He said, still looking at her strangely.

Adelaide's eyes got wider and she looked from her hand, to the corner, to the box, then back up at Sirius with a little smile creeping up at the corners of her lips. "I did. Didn't I? Well that's new..."

"That was bloody cool!" He exclaimed.

"Yes, well, freak out while you open your gift." She said impatiently.

Sirius rolled his eyes and proceeded to rip open the wrappings carelessly. Bits of golden paper flew through the air like leaves in autumn, until he finally reached the box. He lifted open the top then gasped.

"Addy... is this what I think it is?"

Adelaide grinned and nodded.

Sirius carefully pulled out a large glass ball with golden dials, containing a perfect moving model of the galaxy. Little stars shimmered from within like a miniature night sky, entrancing Sirius, who was now just staring at it stupidly.

"You can zoom in and out, and back and forth through time with the little dial things. The lady at the store said it was the best one for artificial stargazing..."

Sirius nearly sent the galaxy rolling across the floor as he reached to hug Adelaide fiercely. "Addy it's perfect." He murmured into her hair as she held on to him giggling.

"Well I'm glad you like it."

Sirius backed away, yet still sitting quite close, and looked at her with a gentle but unreadable expression. "I don't just like it, Ads. I _love_ it." he said softly, tucking her hair behind her ear. His hand lingered for a fraction longer than entirely necessary, then he quickly backed away.

Adelaide wasn't sure what was going on. There were moments like this one when he would look at her with such tenderness; as if she was the only thing that mattered in the world. These were the moments her heart used to try to convince her mind that perhaps he felt the same about her as she felt about him.

But then there were all the other moments when he would bolt, leaving her feeling abandoned and unwanted. Logically, she knew this wasn't true. She knew that he would never intentionally try to make her feel that way, and if she ever told him it did, he would stop at no lengths to make it up to her. However, her heart was still wounded from the years of living with her parents cruel and cold ways, making even the most minor instances of rejection and abandonment hurt much more than they should.

"Addy, are you okay?" Sirius asked, noticing the swirling thoughts brewing within her mind.

"I-I'm fine." she said softly.

"No, you're not... what's wrong?" he asked, looking at her again as if she hung the stars.

"I-I..." she stammered, looking around the room for a diversion, until she noticed the mistletoe hanging above them. 'Really? Mistletoe?' she thought sardonically.

Sirius's eyes shot up. Then back down at her. "How didn't we notice that before?" he chuckled.

Adelaide's eyes went wide. "Did I say that out loud?"

"Yes." he smirked. "Don't worry about it Ads." he said with a forced casual tone. "Why don't we head up and get ready for breakfast. I'll grab the chess set and we can play while you eat your oatmeal!" he said with a grin.

Adelaide grinned back. "Sounds good to me!" she said, joining him in getting up.

It was at this precise moment that a very stupid idea took hold of her mind, shoving the logical part of her brain away, and putting the stupid Gryffindor part in charge instead. She looked up at the mistletoe, then back at Sirius with a smile.

"Wait. Siri, I think you have something in your hair..." she lied, standing on her tiptoes reaching up toward the top of his head.

The logical part of her brain was screaming, but the Gryffindor was grinning.

Sirius bent down a bit, so she could reach. Then, without warning, she softly and gently kissed his cheek.

She backed away just long enough to see his face turn a violent shade of red— then bolted up the stairs to get ready.

Meanwhile Sirius stayed frozen in place, placing a hand to where her lips were pressed against his cheek, a goofy grin plastered on his face. He was relieved that Marlene wasn't there to throw an 'I told you so' at him. He stood there rather stupidly for at least five minutes before finally making his way upstairs to get ready.

When Adelaide reached her dorm, the logical part of her brain was fully back in control, and screaming at the Gryffindor part for being so stupid.

'I shouldn't have done that.'

 _But you like him._

'But he doesn't like me.'

 _Yes he does, did you see the way he blushed?_

'He was embarrassed.'

 _He was thrilled._

'I ruined everything.'

 _You may have ruined everything... but it was worth it._

"UGHH! STUPID STUPID STUPID ADDY!" she said, whacking herself repeatedly with a pillow for the next five minutes.

"Addy, I'm coming in— What in the name of merlin are you doing?" said a voice.

Adelaide was now all too keenly aware of how much she resembled the Malfoy's house elf. "I um... erm I... I lost Dorris." she lied.

Sirius raised an eyebrow, pointing at her bed... where Dorris lay in plain sight.

"Okay I'm lying. I feel like a total idiot. The stupid Gryffindor thought the mistletoe thing would be funny and spontaneous but it was just a big mistake and I'm really sorry."

"The stupid what now?" Sirius chuckled. He literally couldn't think of anything besides the fact that she looked even cuter when she was all flustered like this.

Adelaide groaned. "You know?! The stupid Gryffindor part of your head that tells you to 'do the stupid thing'—the stupider the better. Usually the logical part of my head is in charge... but there was a mutiny and the Gryffindor took over in the vacuum of power there for a second, and made me do the stupid thing." she rambled.

"I'm pretty sure my stupid Gryffindor is always in charge..." he said as if he was coming to a very important revelation. "But for what it's worth, I didn't mind." he shrugged with a goofy smile.

Adelaide felt like she could both fly away in happiness and throw up in anxiety. "Oh... well... then... lovely. So, breakfast? Yeah?" she said with an awkward smile.

"It's a date!" he smirked, heading out the door.

* * *

The rest of the holiday was strange. Good. But strange. Both Adelaide and Sirius had a sneaking suspicion that they may actually fancy each other, but instead of actually doing something about it... like communicating... they stuck to flirting and teasing much more than usual.

James immediately noticed a difference when they all returned to school... As did Remus.

"Addy... what's going on between you and Padfoot?" Remus asked once they found themselves alone a couple weeks after returning to classes.

"Hmm?" she hummed, looking up innocently at her best friend. "Nothing."

"Addy, did something happen?" he asked, dreading the answer.

Adelaide couldn't help but grin. "I-I think he fancies me."

Remus's face stayed impassive. "I told you this last year."

"I-I know... but I didn't really believe you..." she said, feeling a little off footed with his less than enthusiastic response.

"Did you ever talk to him about why he ditched you to go hang out with Marlene?" he asked with a bit of an edge to his voice.

"W-well I asked... but he didn't tell me. But he said that he went with her to Hogsmeade to get my Christmas gift. See! Look at how pretty it is!"

Remus scoffed, rolling his eyes at the memory of Sirius's chat with Jack when he wanted to ask Adelaide to Hogsmeade.

"Rem... why are you acting so weird? You're being a little rude..."

The stupid Gryffindor part of Remus's brain made a hostile takeover.

"Oh I'm the rude one!?" he cried out incredulously with a humorless laugh. "Why don't you ask Jack, I'm sure he'll tell you all about who the real rude one is."

"Jack? What are you talking about?!" Adelaide asked, getting very worked up and not at all liking this new and rude side of Remus.

"Of course he wouldn't tell you..." he muttered. "Jack came up to Sirius and I before Halloween. He wanted to ask you out to Hogsmeade, and asked if you were planning to go with anyone already. Then Sirius said a bunch of tremendously rude things to him and all but demanded that he keep his distance from you. Then he goes to Hogsmeade with Marlene that same weekend. He treats you like crap Addy and it's not fair. You should fancy someone who respects you." Remus finished in a rush.

He wasn't exactly sure what he expected to come of this confession. Perhaps he hoped that Addy would suddenly decide Sirius wasn't the one she really fancied, or she would be grateful for him telling her all this important information. And If he was honest, a tiny bit of him hoped that she would realize _he_ was the one she really fancied... but he ignored this particular thought.

What he did not expect was for her to hit him with a bat bogey hex, then leave the boys dorm in tears.

Adelaide stormed down the stairs and saw Sirius laughing with James.

"Hello, love! Come hang out with us!" Sirius said gesturing for her to join them, obviously not noticing her tear stained cheeks.

Adelaide let out a sob, then marched over to the two boys and set a flock of birds on Sirius with wandless, non-verbal magic. "You blithering idiot! Why did you have to be such an arse! You and Moony both!"

James muttered the counter-curse for the birds attacking Sirius and looked between the two in horror. His ship was sinking.

"Addykins! Wha— why are you mad at me! What did I do?!" he asked desperately trying to reach out to her.

Adelaide let out a frustrated groan. "I heard about your conversation with Jack." she said through gritted teeth. "You had no right to control my life the way you did! You had no reason to be rude to him! You know he's hardly spoken to me at all off the Quidditch pitch?! You don't get to control who I'm friends with! And you and Moony both have no say in deciding who i should or shouldn't fancy!" she said, turning on her heel, white-blonde ponytail swishing as she stormed away to go find Mary.

"What the hell did you say to Jack?!" James exclaimed.

"I may have insinuated that I was offended by his mere existence." Sirius said glumly. "And that he wasn't good enough to ever go out with her..."

James whacked him upside the head.

"Yep. I deserved that."

"Yeah you did." James said huffily.

"Why did Moony tell her all that though? I'm pretty sure he was on my side with that whole thing with Jack." Sirius asked looking over to James. "And what was she going on about him not having a say in who she fancied?"

"I think I may know…" James said slowly, eyes drifting toward the direction of the boys dorm.


	64. Chapter 64

**Chapter 64-** **You Fancy Amelia!**

Adelaide ran up to her dorm, furiously wiping away tears. It seemed that Mary was gone, along with all the other girls. She figured they were at the library or something, and went to the bathroom to wash her face and try to compose herself.

The girl looking back at her was pale, with puffy bloodshot forest green eyes, tear stained cheeks, and little tear drops still clinging to her nearly white eyelashes. 'Cute.' she said wryly to herself. She decided a face wash would not cut it, and instead took a quick shower, in hopes of washing away all the unpleasantness of the afternoon... but it didn't work. She smelled better, but she was just as upset and in need of Mary's advice and uplifting presence as she was before.

As Adelaide made her way back into the dorm from the bathroom, she heard the muffled sounds of a disgruntled Lily Evans.

"Ads... There's a dog on your bed." Lily said slowly, sending a disapproving look at the dog she knew to be Sirius. "You know he really shouldn't— Oh Addy! Have you been crying?!" she asked, suddenly going into caretaker mode.

Adelaide looked at the dog who was now giving her the most heart-breaking puppy dog eyes imaginable.

She really couldn't handle talking to him or Lily right now; She just wanted to see Mary. "Where's the damn map Pads?" she spat. Sirius looked between her and Lily (who was highly confused) a few times. "WHERE IS IT!?"

Sirius morphed into his human form. "It's in James's trunk— Addykins please just listen, I'm really sorry—"

"Shut up." she snapped. "And get out of here before anyone else get's back." she said leaving the room in a huff, marching back toward the last place she wanted to be at that very moment.

She climbed the stairs to the boys dorm, knocked a few times then moved to open the handle... but it was locked. "OPEN UP!" she hollered, banging her fist on the door. "I SAID OPEN UP!"

James creaked the door open just enough for her to see his bespectacled face. "Um... we're in the middle of a situation here... Maybe if you come back later—"

Adelaide ignored him, and pushed her way past and toward his trunk... not even noticing Remus sniffling with puffy eyes looking at her guiltily.

"Where the hell are you Mary..." she muttered to herself, looking for the willowy witch's spot on the map. "What the..."

Mary was with Evan. Just Evan.

"UGH! REALLY EVAN!? YOU CHOOSE NOW TO ASK HER, YOU IDIOT!" she exclaimed, throwing the parchment down in frustration and letting out a yell, to express her extreme displeasure at her current state of affairs, leaning against the trunk as she did so.

"A-addy... I'm s-so sorry..." A miserable voice said from the direction of Remus's bed. "I am so so so sorry! I shouldn't have been so mean to you! I was just as much a part of it all! I even told Jack to ask someone else. I'm so sorry Addy! I don't know why I s-said it! Please forgive me!"

James shot him a look; Remus had literally just confessed to him why he said it.

Adelaide looked at him, then slowly got up. Her heart broke seeing him like that. All she wanted to do was run up and squeeze him and say everything was fine. But it wasn't fine.

Yes, he told her the truth, but he was also incredibly hurtful and rude in the process. He was one of the only people who knew how torn she was about liking her best friend, and she hoped he would be happy and supportive that things were starting to work themselves out. But instead he seemed angry by the whole idea.

So instead of immediately forgiving him, she shoved her feelings deep down into the unfathomable depths of her heart, and felt her face harden into a mask of emotionlessness. "I'm not saying I won't forgive you eventually Remus, but for now I need some time to think things over." she said in a much too calm and emotionless voice, before walking out the room.

As she made her way back to her dorm, she hoped that Sirius would not still be there. She knew that any semblance of composure she currently possessed could be shattered with one knowing look from him. She couldn't lie to him. But apparently he could keep things from her...

The girls' dorm was empty aside from the big black dog waiting for her to enter.

"I told you to leave." she said emotionlessly. The dog whined, but she ignored him and went to her bed and crawled under the covers. She just wanted to hide and pretend none of this ever happened.

"Addy. I'm so sorry. I'll apologize to Jack too. You were right, I'm a blithering idiot." Sirius said calmly but desperately as she felt him sit on the bed.

She hid her face under the covers and sniffled a bit. She was too tempted to forgive him when he was that close. Just like Remus, it would do no good to cave in so quickly when he messed up so badly.

"I screwed up, but I don't want to control you Ads, or tell you who to be friends with, or who you should or shouldn't fancy. I just want you to be happy... preferably with people who know how amazing you are." He said softly. Adelaide sniffled and squirmed a little under the covers, but didn't respond. "Do you want me to go find Mary for you?"

"No, I already know where she is..." the little blob under the blankets mumbled. "Evan is trying to ask her out... again."

Sirius chuckled. "How much do you want to bet he'll chicken out again?"

"Five galleons." The blob said softly. "He seemed pretty determined this time."

"He seemed pretty determined the last three times too... but we know how they all ended..."

Adelaide peaked her head out, partially for some air, and also to smirk. "He nearly sputtered it out the last time."

"Does Mary even fancy him?"

Adelaide looked deep in thought as she sat up. "She might... but I always thought she would be cute with Moony."

"Moony?! Our Moony?!"

"Yes, Moony. You know? The one who told me what a lying turd you were?" She snapped.

Sirius frowned. "I'm really sorry Ads. I promise I'll never do anything like that again... unless you want me to... or if it's Avery or something… I really can't stand that git…" He rambled.

"Siri, what happened to 'we tell each other everything'?" She asked looking up at him with big searching green eyes.

"I knew the second the words came out my mouth that they were the wrong thing to say Ads... I felt guilty... and I knew you would be upset if I ever told you... so I just didn't..."

"Have you done anything else like that without me knowing? Scaring away my friends with your guard dog ways?" She asked. Sirius looked uncomfortable. "You have! Haven't you?!"

"Only a few times! But they were just random blokes! I wouldn't have done it if you were actually friends with them! I didn't say anything to Edgar—"

Adelaide looked appalled. "Edgar?! He has a girlfriend!"

"Oh. Well now I wish I had..."

"Ugh! Just let me handle my own dating life, alright? I swear this is like the whole Evan thing all over again!"

"But Evan and I are friends now... kind of." Sirius said with a half-smile. It was true. They weren't best mates or anything, but Sirius had come to respect the Slytherin after he heard he stuck up for Mary and Adelaide against his fellow snakes.

"I mean with you not trusting me." She said in a low voice.

Sirius frowned, trying to scoot closer to her. "I do trust you Addy. I promise."

There he went again, looking at her as if she was the most important thing in the world. "S-stop looking at me like that!" the stupid Gryffindor within said.

Sirius's expression changed to a look of hurt. "Like what?"

"You know what, I really just want to be alone right now."

"But Ads—"

"Please. Just leave." She said softly.

Sirius nodded. He made his way down the girls' stairs, then climbed up to his own dorm in search of James. If anyone was going to help him out of this mess, it was him.

* * *

"I don't understand why he keeps wanting to talk to me, just to spaz out and run away!" Mary exclaimed upon entering the girls dorm later that evening. She threw her bag onto the floor and flopped onto her bed beside Adelaide's. "Ugh! Boys are so stupid Addy!" she grumbled. "Addy?" Mary flipped over onto her side to see Adelaide had clearly been crying. "Addy Bell! what happened?" she asked, crawling into the bed beside her.

The tears poured out once again as she tried to recount the dramatic events of the day through sobs upon Mary's shoulder. "W-why did they have to b-be such asshats, Mary?" she asked genuinely.

Mary summoned some tissues and softly shushed her and stroked her hair soothingly. "Because, like I said before, boys are stupid." she said confidently. "Honestly, I don't know how you manage to hang out with them as often as you do Ads. They're stupid, and smelly…"

"Sirius smells good…" Adelaide said quickly.

"Yeah… so does Evan…" Mary said with a look of the utmost frustration.

Adelaide smirked. "He was being weird again, wasn't he?"

"Oh the weirdest! It's like he's afraid of me or something!"

Adelaide's smirk widened. "I think he fancies you…" she teased.

"Oh stop it Addy!" Mary said, giving her a little thwack.

Adelaide shrugged smugly. "Wouldn't be the worst thing in the world, would it?"

"B-but it-it's Evan!"

"You've got to admit, he's pretty cute when he get's all flustered though…"

"He's so adorable it's infuriating!" Mary groaned in a huff. "But enough about all that. What are you going to do about your boys?"

"I think I'm going to talk to Remy first, before he starts thinking that I hate him or something. But I'm going to wait to forgive Sirius until he's apologized to Jack." she said nodding to herself.

"Well… I saw Sirius sulking and playing chess with Peter in the common room when I was walking back—asked me how my chat with Evan went—But I don't know how he even knew I was with him… Anyway, I think Remus is upstairs."

Adelaide grabbed some more tissues, a chocolate bar she had stashed away, and five galleons, then wrapped herself in her purple throw blanket and made her way down the girls' stairs then up the boys' to go speak with Remus.

She opened the door to see Sirius looking at Remus with an unreadable expression, James looking at Sirius with disappointment, and Peter just looking nervous to be in the same room as everyone else.

"She's dating a Ravenclaw fourth year Pads!" James said in a scolding voice.

"It's a case of unrequited love then!" Sirius exclaimed childishly.

"What the hell are you going on about?" Adelaide asked with her hands on her hips.

 **[Boys Dorm: A Few Minutes Before]**

"It's okay Moony, really… I was the one who was a total dolt to Middleton… She would have found out sooner or later." Sirius shrugged. "And I'm pretty sure she'll forgive you. I think she would even forgive her evil parents if they apologized…"

"No, but she was so upset Pads... she'll never forgive me after I was such a monster to her." Remus said in a broken voice.

"You're not a monster Rem! It probably wasn't even you talking! It was probably the Stupid Gryffindor!"

Remus looked worried for Sirius's sanity.

"It's something Addy came up with… " he added upon seeing Remus's expression.

"Speaking of Addy… I think I have an idea that would help us avoid something like this happening again." James said, clutching his clipboard.

"Okay Prongs, explain." Sirius said curiously.

"Now as you all know, we had a major turn of events this afternoon causing unprecedented amounts of inter-Marauder turmoil." James addressed the group importantly, clutching his clipboard as he paced the room. "But! The new rule will hopefully help with this predicament."

"Oh get on with it!" Sirius said impatiently.

James shot him a dirty look. "As I was saying, the new rule to The Marauder Code, should it be agreed upon unanimously, states that there would be no inter-Marauder dating until sixth year."

"EXCUSE ME?!"

"I told you he would handle it well..." Remus said smugly.

"This—this isn't really something we need to make an official rule over, right?! W-why are we— James why?!"

James's eyes flashed to Remus. "This would mean no one could date her Pads."

"Who else would?! Wormy's obsessed with Marlene—"

"—I am not obsessed!"

"—you're in love with Lily, and Moony... Moony you fancy Amelia, right?" He asked. Remus looked like he was in pain. "You fancy Amelia, _right?!"_

"Pads I didn't mean to—"

"NO! No, this is not happening! You fancy Amelia!"

"She's dating a Ravenclaw fourth year Pads!" James said in a scolding voice.

"It's a case of unrequited love then!" Sirius exclaimed childishly.

"What the hell are you going on about Pads?" Adelaide asked with her hands on her hips.

Sirius nearly jumped out of his skin in surprise, arms flailing dramatically, nearly whacking Peter in the face with a stray elbow. "Addy! Merlin's beard! You scared me!"

Adelaide smirked, "I can see that."

"We were discussing an amendment to the Marauder's code." James informed her.

"NO, we were discussing how it was a terrible idea!" Sirius said passionately through his teeth.

"I think Addy can decide for herself!" James said equally as passionately.

"She will never agree to it!" Sirius exclaimed.

Adelaide had no idea what she had just walked in on, but it was much more emotionally charged than she was really up for at the moment. "Um… I really just came to see if I could talk to Moons…" she said softly.

Remus's head perked up from where he had been looking dejectedly at the floor. She sent him a small smile and held up the chocolate bar.

"Do I get any chocolate?" Sirius asked like a spoiled child.

Adelaide rolled her eyes dramatically and pulled the five galleons out of her pocket. "You get this. Evan ran away again." she said, dropping the coins into Sirius's hands as he wore a look of smug satisfaction. "Now, out with you all! I need to talk to Moony!" she said shooing the other boys out of the room, much to their displeasure.

"Addy, I'm so sorry! I should have never—" Remus said desperately as she made her way to sit beside him.

"Remy, it's okay. I forgive you." she said, handing him the chocolate bar.

Remus looked at her in disbelief. "Really? Just like that?"

"Well I wanted to forgive you when I saw you crying earlier, but I needed to make you two sweat it out a bit." she shrugged. "But I have to ask… why were you so upset?"

"I-I… I just— I dunno. I just got protective I suppose…" he mumbled.

Adelaide was unconvinced. "You sure that was all it was?"

This was his chance. If he was going to tell her, now would be the time… But should he? He knew he possessed a bit more than platonic feelings for her, but he also knew it was nothing compared to what Sirius felt. Remus may have had a crush, but he was quite certain Sirius loved her, even if he didn't realize it himself.

He thought about how Sirius and Adelaide brought out the best in one-another. How happy and kind Sirius was to people after spending time with her, how bold and unburdened Adelaide was after spending time with him. They were good for each other.

Was he prepared to ruin that, all because he had a crush?

No. He wasn't.

In that moment, Remus resolved to find a way to put his feelings aside, and let his two best friends bumble around in obliviousness of how much they cared for each other without anymore interference from him.

"I'm sure Ads." he said confidently.

She seemed to believe him this time. "Alright, well, we should probably tell the others they can come in." she said, getting up from the bed and heading toward the door to fetch the other boys.

"Are you going to forgive Sirius?"

Adelaide smirked as she opened the door. "Not just yet."

The others returned, still bickering over the stupid rule.

"It will cause more problems than it will solve!" Sirius said.

"James, Sirius is right… it isn't necessary." Remus said confidently.

James looked between Remus and Adelaide. "Rem, are—are you sure?"

Remus smiled. "Positive."

"Okay, well now that whatever that was about is cleared up, I'm going to go back and hang out with Mary… I'll see you all at dinner." Adelaide said, grabbing her blanket and exiting the dorm.

Once the door shut, Sirius looked over at Remus. "You fancy Amelia, right?" he asked softly, desperately.

Remus rolled his eyes with an amused expression. "Sure."

"I knew it!"

* * *

Adelaide entered the great hall an hour later only to see Sirius in a conversation with Jack Middleton.

After finishing his lengthy apology to a rather surprised Jack, Sirius sat beside Adelaide with a grin.

"Why are you so happy? I haven't forgiven you yet." she said through a mouth full of potatoes.

"No reason." he said slyly. "But um... apologizing to Jack helps, right?" he asked worriedly.

Adelaide pursed her lips together. "Yes, it does."

"So... Will you forgive me? Or do I need to grovel and beg some more?" he smirked, seeing her stern face falter slightly.

"I mean… I _would_ quite like to see that..." she said feigning casualty.

Sirius grinned, got up from his seat and onto his knees beside her.

"ADDYKINS! SWEET ADDYKINS! THE MOST BEAUTIFUL BABOON IN ALL THE LAND!" he said loudly, attracting the attention of the whole hall. "I, SIRIUS STARKID BLACK, THE MOST DRAMATIC OF POODLES, THE MOST HIDEOUS OF HOUNDS, FORMALLY APOLOGIZE FOR BEING A BLITHERING IDIOT, A MEDDLESOME PRAT, AND AN INTOLERABLE ARSE! PLEASE, PLEASE SAY THAT YOU WILL FORGIVE ME!" he finished, looking up at her with insufferably adorable puppy dog eyes.

"Oh that's so cute!" whispered Blair Wood from down the table.

"Come on Ads! Forgive him!" cheered Jack Middleton.

"No, hex him!" jeered Regulus jokingly from the Slytherin table.

Adelaide's face was a brilliant shade of red as she realized the whole great hall, including the teachers were waiting for her response.

"Um... You're forgiven." she said softly, hardly helping the goofy grin on her face.

This caused a mixed reaction of mostly cheers, with a few glares from the jealous girls who very much wanted to be on the receiving end of Sirius's grand sweeping gestures.

Sirius beamed then wrapped her up in a warm embrace. "Thank you Ads." he mumbled into her ear before kissing the top of her head and squeezing her tighter.

"Can't— breathe."

Sirius immediately let her go. "Sorry!" he said with a sheepish smile.

"It's okay, but if you ever call me a 'beautiful baboon' in public again, I will hex you into oblivion. Understood?" she asked, no hint of humor in her voice.

Sirius gulped and nodded aggressively. "Understood."


	65. Chapter 65

**Chapter 65-** **We are Occlumencing!**

As winter turned into spring, Adelaide's days were some of the happiest and least stressful she'd had since the school year began. She focused on her classes, not as an outward reflection of a need to control her life as before, but out of a genuine interest in the subjects themselves. Her friendships with all the third year girls grew deeper, she even considered Marlene a good friend of hers... especially since she knew Sirius didn't fancy her. And her love for Quidditch grew with every practice... except the ones where they had to run laps.

All in all, as Gryffindor approached their second game of the season against Hufflepuff in late March, things were good. All the anxious thoughts of arranged marriages and worrisome plots from Tom Riddle, felt so far away and distant that sometimes Adelaide wondered if it had all been a bad dream. It was hard to believe that in a world full of such light and happiness and laughter, that there could be people who were doing all they could to destroy it in the name of prejudice and power.

However, Adelaide knew that no matter how lovely life seemed at the moment, evil and danger lurked in the shadows, waiting to strike... and she would be ready when it did.

After Adelaide's numerous requests to resume lessons with Dumbledore had been denied, she had begun to work with Sirius on his Occlumency .. which was proving to be more difficult than she had anticipated...

"You just have to clear your mind of all emotions!" Adelaide told Sirius for the umpteenth time.

"Oh! That's all?" he replied sarcastically.

Adelaide groaned and flopped backward on the opposite end of his bed. "It's really not that hard."

"Easy for you to say! I am a highly emotional being Adelaide!"

"I'm aware." she grumbled under her breath. "Okay. Imagine that your emotions are things, objects. So let's say your annoyance for these lessons looks like a—"

"It looks like a cat toy."

Adelaide sat up to look at him. "I was going to say a scarf..."

"Can it be a scarf with cats on it?"

Adelaide considered his request. "I suppose. Okay, so your annoyance looks like a scarf with cats on it. Now I want you to close your eyes and imagine putting it into a drawer."

Sirius closed his eyes. "What kind of drawer is it? Are we talking about a dresser drawer, a bathroom drawer, a desk drawer, big drawer, small drawer—"

"It doesn't matter!!"

Sirius opened an eye. "I think _someone_ needs to put their anger scarf into their own mind drawer..."

"Just shut up and do what I told you!" she snapped as he chuckled.

"So bossy... Okay, I am putting the scarf with cats into your desk drawer..."

"Why _my_ drawer?" she asked, forgetting to be upset.

Sirius opened his eyes and smiled. "Because then you'll have a cute cat scarf to wear if you get cold while doing your homework." he said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, closing his eyes when he saw her smile despite herself. "Okay, so what's next?"

"O-oh um... next you close the drawer and lock it with a key."

"Locking drawer and leaving the key under that box of muggle quill things you use to doodle with."

"They're called pencils... wait how did you know—? ...You know what, nevermind... Now, you should feel less annoyed." Unlike how Adelaide was feeling at the moment.

Sirius opened his eyes. "You know what... I actually do..." he said honestly.

Adelaide beamed. "Terrific! Okay, now another technique that I use to calm down is to take in my surroundings."

"So... I scan the room?"

"Not exactly. Close your eyes—"

"You don't close your eyes when you're doing Occlumency Why do I keep having to?!" Sirius protested childishly.

"Because _you_ are easily distracted." she retorted.

Sirius sent her a playful glare and closed his eyes. There was no use fighting the obvious.

"Now, I want you to sense the area around you. Focus on the sound of your breath, how the air feels moving in and out of your lungs, the sounds of the room, the feeling of whatever your touching, the heart beating in your chest, the smells of whatever is around you—"

"Lavender and vanilla." Sirius murmured with a soft smile.

"What?" Adelaide asked, not understanding him.

"Nothing, love. Keep going."

Adelaide pursed her lips. "Now do this until I say to open your eyes and then tell me how you feel."

Sirius nodded. He listened to his breath, the sound of a spring rain shower lightly pattering on the window of the boys dorm, the feeling of Adelaide's soft purple blanket against his fingers, the smell of lavender and vanilla from her shampoo mixed with the stink pellets he had used to prank James that morning. The slow steady beating of his heart and the breath in his lungs.

"Okay, now open your eyes!"

Sirius opened his eyes slowly and felt calm and serene... thoughtless.

"So...?"

"I feel... empty... but a good empty. Uncluttered, like when you cleaned out my trunk for me last month."

Adelaide beamed again. "That's brilliant! That's exactly how you're supposed to feel! I knew you could do it!"

"You're a really good teacher Addy." he said with a half smile. "Thanks for helping me out with this."

"Don't thank me just yet, we don't know if it's enough to actually keep someone out of your head..." she trailed off, searching through her charmed handbag for something or another with a determined look. He knew that look.

"Addy... What are you plotting in that little head of yours?"

"Well... You need someone to do Legilimency on you... and I need someone to try it on... so..."

Sirius looked offended. "So you choose me of all people to mind read?! What if you see something you're not supposed to!"

Adelaide raised an eyebrow. "Such as...?"

Sirius sputtered incoherently.

"Words, Black. Words and sentences." She teased, mocking his voice.

"Rude... I just don't like the idea of you roaming around in there Ads..."

"Well all the more reason to get better and Occlumency." She said smugly. "Now shove those pesky feelings of yours in a drawer and shush! I need to concentrate." She said, pulling out the book and her wand.

"Oh Merlin... you're really going to do this aren't you?"

"I'm going to try... but I probably won't get it the first go around." She shrugged.

"If it's anything like the Patronus we're going to be here a while..." he teased.

"You better be nice to me, I could get some serious blackmail on... you... oh my Merlin! Sirius Blackmail!" Adelaide said before dissolving into giggles. Sirius was more amused by her reaction than the silly pun. "Get it?! SIRIUS BLACKmail! Because that's your name!" She exclaimed rolling around on his bed like a dying bug. "Oh good Godric, I'm so funny." she sighed as she righted herself, only to see Sirius looking at her with a strange expression. "What's with the face?"

"Nothing, love." He said with a little smile, trying to hide just how adorable he found her in that moment. "So, you ready? Or are you going to have another giggle fit?" He asked cheekily.

She scrunched up her nose and stuck her tongue out at him. "Ha ha. And yes, I'm ready."

Adelaide pulled out her wand and followed the movements as instructed, then said the words, " _Legilimens_ ," looking directly at Sirius for a long few moments.

After a minute or so, Sirius peaked open an eye. "Did it work?"

"Either you're very good at Occlumency, or I suck at Legilimency... or both." She said pouting.

"Okay, how about this. I won't try to keep you out. That way we'll know if you can mind-read or whatever."

Adelaide tilted her head to the side. "But I thought you didn't want me to look in your head?"

"Well... I changed my mind. This is a one time offer, so you better get going before I change my mind again."

Adelaide raised her eyebrows and scrambled to grab the book and her wand again. Once again she followed the wand movements and said the incantation, and again... nothing. She looked quite discouraged.

"Okay, we have... erm... an hour and a half until we have to leave for dinner, just keep trying until then." Sirius said with a reassuring smile, giving her knee a little pat of encouragement.

Adelaide nodded, looking more determined. "Okay."

Again and again she tried to peer through to Sirius's mind, and again and again she failed. It was on her last try that something odd happened. She said the spell and looked him in the eyes, then she saw a flash, of her own eyes—her own face looking back at her. She was younger, just barely eleven and wearing a green dress.

And then she was gone, quicker than the blink of an eye.

James and Peter came bursting into the room singing " _Beat Back Those Bludgers, Boys, and Chuck That Quaffle Here,_ " dramatically at the top of their lungs, dancing around Remus who looked half annoyed and half amused by their antics.

"Ads. You saw something didn't you?" Sirius said, ignoring the chaos around them.

Adelaide smiled shyly. "I saw me. At the gala before you found me crying in the garden."

"Merlins pants... IT WORKED!" Sirius exclaimed with wide eyes and an even wider smile.

"What worked?" Peter asked, leaving James to sing all by himself.

"ADDYKINS READ MY MIND!"

The other three became very quiet and gaped at her, then cheered excitedly.

"Oh Merlin that's so bloody cool!" James gushed.

"I wonder how ol dumbles is going to take this news..." Peter trailed off with a smirk.

"I don't think Addy is planning to tell Dumbledore, are you Ads?" Remus said knowingly.

Adelaide shook her head, still smiling in accomplishment.

* * *

After Adelaide's quick success in helping Sirius with his Occlumency, the other boys were all too keen to learn the skill as well. So much so that on any given Saturday afternoon, you could probably walk into the third year boys' dorm to see all five Marauder's sitting with their eyes closed attempting to remain emotionless.

"Addy are you up here? I really need to talk... to... you... What the bloody hell are you all doing up here?" Mary exclaimed upon opening the door on one such Saturday in late April.

"We are Occlumencing! Now either stuff those emotions of yours into a metaphorical drawer, or leave!" James said sassily.

Adelaide shot him a dirty look for talking to her best friend that way and threw a pillow at his head, sending his glasses onto the floor with a clatter. "Jeez... I'm sorry!"

"Thank you. Now, can some one explain what you are actually doing?" Mary asked with her hands on her hips.

"Um... We're protecting our thoughts from mind readers." Peter explained.

"Oh right, sure." she scoffed sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

"No, he's telling the truth Mare." Adelaide said, looking slightly uncomfortable.

Adelaide's friendship with Mary and her friendship with the boys didn't overlap all that often... but when they did, it was all too obvious that there were a lot of things Mary didn't know. Such as the fact that Adelaide had been dabbling in Legilimency, or that she had a magical map that could track peoples whereabouts, or that she'd had dinner with Lord Voldemort, or that she and the other boys were an animagi...

Has that been mentioned? Yes, James and Peter both _finally_ managed the transformation that rainy day in March when Adelaide first read Sirius's mind.

But, back to the issue at hand. Adelaide was currently under a high amount of stress knowing that she was essentially lying to her closest friend besides Sirius.

"Who the hell would be trying to read your mind?" Mary asked incredulously.

"Well you-know-who for starters." Sirius grumbled, not really enjoying her tone, mentally trying to stuff his annoyance scarf into a drawer.

Mary looked more flabbergasted. "Is this some sort of prank?"

"This is not a prank! This is training! Now either sit down and join us or leave!" James said bossily once again.

Mary pulled out her wand and hexed his tongue to the roof of his mouth.

"Nice one Mare!" Adelaide cheered with a grin. "But why don't you sit with us and I can explain how it works."

Mary looked hesitant, as if she didn't know if it was really a prank or not, but her curiosity willed her to sit beside Adelaide. "Okay, now what exactly are you explaining?"

"Occlumency. It's how you keep people from using Legilimency on you... which is essentially mind reading. I learned how to do it when I was younger from a tutor I had before starting school, and I was teaching Sirius how to do it... you know, just in case. And well the other buffoons just _had_ to learn how to do it too... You just have to empty your mind of all thoughts. You can try it with us if you want!"

Mary looked a little overwhelmed. "I—this— You know this is great and all, but I really need some help with my um... 'Evan Situation'."

"Oh your 'Evan Situation', eh?" Adelaide smirked, just before wordlessly casting the counter curse for James who was flailing his arms dramatically in an effort to speak once again.

Sirius gave a sly smile. "Did you two have another nice chat?" he asked.

"I— well— he... he asked me out to Hogsmeade!" she said as if she was in pain.

Adelaide squealed and flailed her arms around. "I knew it!" she said rather aggressively, pointing at Sirius. "So, what did you say?!"

"I— well— I didn't really— I ran away..."

"YOU WHAT?!" Sirius exclaimed making Mary jump.

"I didn't know what to tell him..." she said shyly, suddenly wishing she was not in the presence of so many people.

"So you just didn't say anything?! You just left him standing there?!" James asked in disbelief.

"I—well I doubt he's still standing there..."

James pointed to Remus. "Moony check the map!"

Mary looked highly confused, as Remus checked a very large piece of folded parchment that was sitting on his bedside table.

"Where were you when he asked you this?" Remus asked, eyes still scanning the paper.

"Oh... um well he cornered me as I was on my way back from the library, near charms class, by all those tapestries."

"Yep, he's still standing there." Remus said surely.

"How do you—"

"Mary, do you want to go to Hogsmeade with him?" Peter asked kindly.

Mary blinked a few times. "I-I mean... It-it's Evan!"

"Yes McDonald, I think we established that." Sirius smirked. Adelaide whacked him upside the head. "Sorry." he muttered.

"Mary..." Adelaide began gently, as if she was speaking to a small animal that might flee if she spoke too harshly. "Do you want to go to Hogsmeade with Evan?"

Mary looked back at her deep in thought, internally wrestling with the idea. "I-I think— I think I do." she said softly.

"Dammit..." Sirius hissed going over to his dresser to grab some coins out of his money pouch, and handing them to Adelaide who seemed rather pleased with herself.

"Did you two have a bet on if this would happen?" Mary asked, gawking at their little transaction.

They both looked a little sheepish. "Erm.. well... you see... we um..."

"Oh good merlin! Go tell that poor sod you'll go with him!" James exclaimed, pointing at the door.

Mary suddenly bolted toward the door, but stopping at the door way. "Wait, um Remus, is he still there?" she asked, not really understanding how Remus had this information, but going along with it anyway.

"Um... Let me check... Yep! All alone by charms class. Probably sitting on that random bench—"

"Probably crying his eyes out—" Sirius smirked. "Ow! Stop hitting me Addy!"

"Stop being a prat Siri!" she mocked.

"Um... I'm just going to um... go... thanks for your help!" Mary said awkwardly before sprinting down the stairs.

As soon as she was gone, all the Marauders piled onto Remus's bed... which was quite a squeeze, all things considered.

"Where is she— Keep your boney elbow away from my ribs!" Adelaide snapped at Sirius.

"Boy she's fast..." James commented, trying to peak over Remus's shoulder.

"It's because she's tall." Remus muttered.

"You're tall and you don't run that fast..." Peter commented, trying to not fall off the side of the bed.

"Moony can run fast if he needs to..." Sirius trailed sitting comfortably in front of him, remembering the time when they both overslept before Transfiguration, and Remus made it to class a good two minutes before him.

"Sirius, I can't see!" Adelaide whined.

Sirius looked behind him at the pouting girl, grabbed her by the waist, then pulled her over to switched spots with him giving her a perfect view of the map. "Thank you! Oh! She's nearly there... NO! EVAN STAY PUT! STOP IT EVAN! STOP MOVING!"

"Oh no... he's not going to see her coming around that corner..." Remus said worriedly.

James cringed, knowing what was going to happen next.

"Oof... Is it bad that I wish we could have seen them run into each other?" Sirius asked.

"No. Look! Evan's dot is moving towards her's... Aw! He's helping her up! GO EVAN! Who said Slytherins can't be chivalrous?" Adelaide cheered.

"Why does Mary's dot keep wiggling around?" Peter asked.

"Oh that's normal, she does that when she's nervous. Can't sit still... kind of like Padfoot when he's bored."

"Look! They're walking together!" James said, pointing at the two dots moving together down the hall. They watch Mary and Evan meander through the halls for a few more minutes, then decided it was time for a candy break.

"Ah! Young love!" James sighed before taking a big bite of his liquorish wand... smirking at Adelaide and Sirius who were currently using their sugar quills to have a sword fight.

"Who are you looking for Moony?" Peter asked through a mouth full of fudge flies.

"Oh... um... no one." he said awkwardly.

James raised an eyebrow. "Who _are_ you looking for?"

"Um... well..."

Adelaide and Sirius paused their sugar quill sword fight and came to either side of Remus, looking down at the map.

"Hufflepuff common room." Adelaide announced.

"I thought Amelia had a boyfriend?" James said jokingly.

"They stopped dating last month," Remus said too quickly, cursing himself internally.

Sirius smirked and wiggled his eyebrows. "I knew you fancied her."

Remus's face flushed a light pink. "Oh shut it." he grumbled, hating that he was right...

* * *

During the Hogsmead visit, the first week of May, Adelaide and Sirius found themselves in a corner of The Three Broomsticks, listening to the sound of the front door jingling open and shut with patrons, and sniggering as they watched Mary and Evan try to out awkward one another.

"I've been telling her for _months_ that he fancies her, and I swear she still doesn't believe me." Adelaide mumbled through a mouthful of caramel covered popcorn. "I don't even think she even realizes that they're on a date right now!"

Sirius shook his head and took a big gulp of his butter beer, giving him a foamy mustache. "They are just so oblivious."

Adelaide snickered. "You have a little something just there..."

Sirius wiggled his eyebrows. "You like it?"

Adelaide laughed loudly. "I love it! You should really think about making it permanent."

Sirius chuckled as he wiped away the foam with a napkin. "Oh look! They got the giggle juice we ordered for them." he said, sharing a mischievous smile with his fair haired co-conspirator.

"Here you go!" Madam Rosmerta said to Mary and Evan, placing two pineapple flavored drinks down at their table.

"Excuse me, but um... we didn't order these..." Evan said in confusion.

"Yes, I know. Enjoy." She said airily before walking away, sending a wink to their two sniggering friends in the corner.

Mary shrugged and drank the donated drink, then let out a loud laugh, causing Evan to flash his dazzling smile.

"Oh she's a gonner now..." Adelaide said slyly.

Sirius looked at her in confusion. "What?"

Adelaide's eyes were still on Mary and Evan. "His smile." she clarified, though it really only confused Sirius further.

"Not following."

Adelaide glanced over to see Sirius with his brows furrowed, looking at the now furiously giggling couple, then returned to watching them as well. "She practically melts every time he smiles at her... but I mean it makes sense... he has probably the best smile of all the boys at school." she informed him. "Except for you, of course." she shrugged, not even really registering the fact that she had complemented him.

"You think I have the best smile, huh?" Sirius teased, trying to distract her from the blush blooming on his cheeks.

"Of course." she flirted. "...you have the best smile, and the worst hair."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Well that's a lie and you know it."

She raised an eyebrow. "Do I?"

"Name one other person with better hair than me! Go on. I dare you!" he exclaimed, now feeling a little competitive.

Adelaide looked at him smugly for a moment. "Me." she said simply, leaning back in her seat to watch him try to work his way out of that one.

Sirius closed his eyes as if in deep pain. "You're right." he forced out.

"Wow... there's hope for your ego after all!" Adelaide exclaimed. "And thank you, by the way." she said with a wink, dramatically flipping her long blonde hair over her shoulder.

"Yeah, yeah..." he muttered, trying not to smile. "Hey... is that a new?" he asked, pointing at the scarf on the seat beside her.

"Yes. Funny story actually! I was sitting at my desk, freezing half to death, trying to write about de-fanging vampiric vegetation, when I found this cute scarf with a bunch of cats on it in my drawer..." she said, knowing he was the one to plant it there.

"Someone probably wanted to make sure you didn't get frostbite in that drafty tower." Sirius shrugged with a grin.

Adelaide was about to respond with what was sure to be a witty response, when she felt the unmistakable sensation of someone trying to poke around in her thoughts.

"Addy? Ads, are you okay?" Sirius asked, noticing her shift to emotionlessness.

"Someone in here is trying to read my thoughts." she said softly.

Sirius immediately began scanning the room along with Adelaide. It was a little crowded, but everyone seemed to be minding their own business... Except for Severus Snape.

Sirius briefly made eye contact with the Slytherin sitting across the room with Lily and Marlene, and felt the same thing Adelaide had experienced just moments before. Immediately he closed his eyes, felt the breath moving in and out of his lungs, the smell of lavender, vanilla, caramel, and butterscotch that surrounded him, listened to the sounds of Mary giggling a few seats away, and finally felt as Adelaide placed her small soft hand on his, then opened his eyes.

"Well... did it work?" she asked, knowing he was having his first real go at Occlumency.

"I think it did." he said with a lazy smile. "Also, I'm pretty sure Snivellus is a Legilimens." he shrugged.

Adelaide looked alarmed, glancing over to the greasy haired boy. "No, there's no way." she said shaking her head. "I bet it was just Dumbles walking by or something," she said quickly. Her pride refused to let her believe it was possible that someone else their age could perform complicated wandless magic of that difficulty.

Sirius was unconvinced, but quickly let the matter go as he saw James, Remus, and Peter waving at them through the window.

Outside the pub, James smirked, wondering if Adelaide and Sirius even realized that they were actually on a date with each other.


	66. Chapter 66

**Chapter 66- Anything For You**

Sirius returned to the boys' dorm from his day at Hogsmeade with Adelaide in a particularly good mood. Not only did they have front row seats to watch Mary and Evan's awkwardness, but they also visited several other shops along the way. They stopped at Honeydukes, Zonkos Joke Shop, Dervish and Banges, and Gladrags Wizardwear (where Adelaide snuck off to buy herself a purple headband when he wasn't looking). There was even a brief, wonderful moment in Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop when Adelaide grabbed his hand when she led him to see some big blue quill she was obsessed with... which he later bought for her.

However, Sirius could tell that his particularly good mood was about to end just by the smug look on James Potter's face.

"So, did you and _Addykins_ have a nice date?" James smirked.

"It was _not_ a date." He said rolling his eyes, but failing to stifle a smile as he looked around the otherwise empty dorm room. "Where are the others?"

"Remus and Lily are helping Peter with his Potions assignment downstairs," James said quickly with an impatient wave. "but don't try to change the subject Padfoot! I really am interested in how your _date_ went."

"It wasn't a date!" Sirius insisted.

"Did you or did you not ask Addy to go to Hogsmeade with you... just you?"

"Well yes, but it wasn't like that! We were just spying on Mary and Evan!"

"But you weren't spying when you stopped at Honeydukes to get her that caramel popcorn..."

"She needed a snack and it's one of her favorites… Besides, you know how cranky she gets when she's hungry! There was no way I was about to spend a full day of stalking with a hangry Addy!"

"...well couldn't she have bought her own snack?" James smirked.

Sirius realized he and the others must have been spying on them and let out an annoyed huff, sitting upon his bed to take off his shoes. "It was my idea to get the popcorn, so I paid for it. Besides, I ate some too."

James was becoming more and more amused the more Sirius became annoyed. "What about all those other places... and the quill you bought her."

"She wanted to look around! We had lost Mary and Evan by that point anyway." Sirius grumbled. "and who cares if I got her something?! You buy her dung bombs all the time!"

"That's different. I buy everyone dung bombs. It's how I show that I care." James said crossing his arms over his chest. "But how about your drinks at the three broomsticks?"

"I—well, it was more expedient to just pay for both of us!"

James's smirked widened. "Sounds like a date to me..."

"It wasn't!" Sirius said, throwing a stinky sock toward James.

"And don't even get me started on the amount of flirting and handholding going on..."

"We— okay fine I'll give you that one. But the handholding wasn't what you think it was—"

"Oh I think it was exactly what I think it was considering the fact that you're _in love with her!"_ James teased, dodging Sirius's other smelly sock.

"I am not in love with her!" Sirius said frustratedly. "And it wasn't a date!"

"IT WAS A DATE!" James sang loudly, standing upon his bed with his arms outstretched.

Sirius pointed his wand and wordlessly jinxed James's pillows into ducks.

"AAHHHGGG"

James, startled by the the feathered creatures now pecking at his toes, fell off the bed with a heavy _thunk_ , then tried to wrestle his glasses out of the bill of a particularly feisty duck whilst Sirius cackled. "I will not — be— intimidated by these— feathered— beasts!"

Adelaide's knocks upon the door to the dorm were muffled by the sound of Sirius laughing, James complaining, and ducks quacking. She stepped inside with her hair slightly damp, wearing sweats, pink fuzzy cat slippers, and a Led Zeppelin T-shirt.

"Padfoot... why is Prongsy playing tug-of-war with a duck?" She asked tilting her head to the side, trying to make sense of the odd situation.

Sirius tried to calm his laughter enough to answer. "Because he was being particularly annoying."

"I was only asking how your da— OH NO YOU DON'T YOU WRETCHED CREATURE! THESE ARE _MY_ GLASSES!" James yelled at the duck as it succeeded in running away with his glasses into the bathroom. "COME BACK HERE!" they heard him exclaim from the other room.

"So, what brings you to our humble dwelling?" Sirius said casually to Adelaide whilst petting one of James's ducks.

"Well I actually came to try to steal that grey jumper from Moony..." she said, slyly side-stepping her way over to the werewolf's trunk.

Sirius feigned a look of shock and disapproval. "You thieving feline!" he exclaimed, pointing at her dramatically.

"Shhh!" she hushed through her giggles, running over to the trunk and proceeding to rummage through until she found the item in question, throwing it over her head. "Ahhh so cozy." she sighed contently with her eyes closed.

"Why don't you ever steal my jumpers?" Sirius asked, brows furrowed slightly.

Adelaide opened her eyes to give him a curious look. "Do you _want_ me to steal your jumpers?"

"I— well— I mean... I just meant... you could... if you wanted to..."

 _"Quack! Quack!"_

"I GOT THEM!" James yelped, bursting back into the room with his glasses in their proper place, albeit a bit askew on his face. He grabbed his wand off the dresser and muttered the counter-jinx, turning his ducks back into pillows.

Sirius looked down at the pillow he was now holding instead of the duck. "I'll never forget you Wallace." he said mournfully. Adelaide had never seen Sirius act more like his little brother than when he was mourning the loss of a bird.

"Well as lovely as it's been chatting with you all, I best be off to bed..." she said trying to scoot toward the door.

"Oh no you don't! I have something I wanted to ask you." James said in a very serious tone of voice.

Adelaide raised an eyebrow, not missing the faint look of horror on Sirius's face. "Yes?"

"Do you think your parents would let you come over this summer?"

Sirius let out a sigh of relief that he didn't bring up the 'date' subject again.

"Oh. Um... I mean, normally I'd say no... but they didn't have much of a problem when you came to the party... so maybe?"

James nodded thoughtfully. "Well it would be way more fun if you got to come over... and mum's _dying_ to get to know you better... I think she's just still in shock that I have a girl best friend... who doesn't hate me."

Adelaide laughed. "Well I can try owling them and see what they say..."

"Terrific!" James cheered. "So how did you enjoy your date with Padfoot?" he smirked.

Sirius looked furious, but Adelaide didn't skip a beat. "How was your date with Moony? I imagine it must have been a little awkward having Wormy as a third wheel." she winked.

James threw back his head in laughter. "It was great, but don't tell Lily... Unless you think it will make her jealous." he smirked wiggling his eyebrows.

"You're ridiculous." she laughed, shaking her head. "See you tomorrow, and don't tell Moony I stole his jumper!" she said, walking out the door before they could tell how frazzled his question really made her.

Sirius started mercilessly whacking James with a pillow the second she was out the door.

* * *

It had been three weeks after what was certainly not a date between Adelaide and Sirius, and final exams were just around the corner. Students could be found studying at almost any time, any place throughout the castle... except for in the third year Gryffindor boys' dorm.

"No Moony! I don't want to go!" Adelaide whined childishly, wallowing on James's bed. "The library is stuffy and awful and boring and reeks of nerd!"

"Addy... you do realize that _you_ are a nerd, right?" James asked from where he was sitting at his desk, working on something that had nothing to do with exams or school.

Adelaide proceeded to throw a pillow at him, knocking his plotting clipboard to the ground. "That's not relevant!" she barked. "I don't want to go! That place is soul sucking!"

"I promise there are no dementors in the library Ads." Remus said, rolling his eyes. "Now come on!"

Remus began trying to pull her off the bed by force.

"WHY ME?! I paid attention in class for a majority of the year mainly to avoid this specific situation! Why can't you take one of the others?! They actually need to study!" she exclaimed desperately, limbs flailing wildly to fend off her werewolf friend.

"I didn't study last year and I made top marks in every class." James said distractedly, frowning while he tried to reorder his disarrayed stack of papers.

"What about Pads?!" she tried.

Remus glanced over to Sirius's bed where a large, black, longhaired German Shepherd lay sprawled out on its back, snoring slightly.

"I'm not taking that mutt to the library again. He talks non-stop! I nearly got banned by Pince because of him..." he grumbled. "Come on Addy! I need you to help me out with Charms class!"

Adelaide sat straight up. "You really should have led with that." she scolded.

"So does this mean you'll go with me?" he asked hopefully.

"Yes." She said woefully. There was no way in hell that any one of her friends would make anything less than an outstanding in charms class if she had any say in the matter.

"Perfect! Let's go!" He said, throwing his book bag over his shoulder.

"No! I need to go get ready first! You go down and grab us a table." she said in a rather bossy tone of voice. "...preferably as far away from other people as physically possible." she grumbled.

Remus eyed her suspiciously.

"I promise I won't ditch you!" she exclaimed. Remus still looked unconvinced, causing her to let out a long groan of annoyance. "I solemnly swear I will not ditch you." she said ceremoniously.

"Okay, fine."

* * *

Half an hour later, Adelaide dragged her feet down to the dull and dusty prison some may refer to as a library, trying to emotionally prepare herself to take on the dreary undertaking, when she ran into Mary, who seemed to be doing much of the same. As the two friends made their way through an abandoned corridor, Adelaide noticed something: the distinct feeling of being watched.

Her eyes chanced a look back over her shoulder, but she saw nothing but a few paintings. Still, instinct told her that something was amiss as she continued to listen to Mary prattle on about her ever imploding 'Evan Situation.'

"... ever since that weekend he's been more squirrelly than normal! I didn't even think that was possible! Oh, and the other day I asked if he wanted to sit with me during study hall, and you know what he did?"

"Professed his undying love to you?" Adelaide sniggered.

Mary shot her an annoyed face. "No. He ran away. Literally. RAN! No 'sorry I'm busy Mary,' or 'maybe next time'! Nope. He just sprints away! Am I that repulsive Addy?" Mary inquired, knee deep in sorrow.

Adelaide chuckled at her dramatics. "You're not repulsive. I told you before it's only because he's nervous around you."

"Nervous because I'm so repulsive?" Mary tried.

"No, nervous because he fancies you." Adelaide smirked.

Mary looked affronted. "For the last time, he does not fancy me!"

"Oh he definitely fancies you!" said a voice creeping up behind them.

Mary jumped in fright, but Adelaide ran up to smack the intruder repeatedly on the arm. "Ow! Addykins! Stop hitting me!"

"You—nosey—mutt! Why were you following us?!" Adelaide asked, still furiously trying to thwack the curly haired boy.

Sirius hid behind Mary, using her as a human shield against his angry best friend. "I was only coming to give you this!"

A hand poked out from behind the tall brunette a holding letter encased in lavish and expensive stationary.

Adelaide ceased her swatting, snatched the letter out of his hands and ripped it open right then and there. Her eyes read over the words, narrowing as they did so. She then crumpled the parchment and threw it onto the ground, setting it on fire with a wave of her hand.

Mary's eyes grew wide as she witnessed her friend perform wandless magic in such a nonchalant fashion. "A-Addy...?"

"Ads. What—" Sirius started, moving out from behind Mary.

"I'm not going to James's house this summer." Adelaide said monotone, eyes cast down to the little pile of ash at her feet.

Sirius suddenly knew exactly who that letter was from. Adelaide had spent days and days trying to draft the perfect case for why she should be able to visit the Potters over the summer. He knew that she was hoping her parents would say yes, even if she wouldn't admit it out loud.

"Addy, we'll still see each other at the galas and at dinners..." Sirius started.

Adelaide shifted her feet a little, but still looked impassively at the remnants of her disappointment.

"Yeah, it'll be okay Addy Bell... I'm sure mum and dad would go to the galas if I beg enough!" Mary said with a reassuring smile.

"I-I should go catch up with Moony." Adelaide finally said in a small voice. "He's been waiting forever and I promised I wouldn't ditch him."

Sirius and Mary shared a concerned look between them as Adelaide left them to head toward the library, then followed after her.

Remus watched as Adelaide made her way into the corner table he had claimed... followed soon after by Mary and Sirius. "Oh no. No no no. Sirius I swear if you talk the whole time—"

"Have a little faith Moony." Sirius smirked, mussing up his friends hair, only adding to his agitation.

Mary rolled her eyes. "Remus, did you really expect him to let her go out of his sight for that long?"

"Ugh... I told you I was only coming to give her the letter!" Sirius said a bit louder than was socially acceptable, earning a shush from nearby students.

Adelaide quickly pulled out her charms book, laying it upon the table with a _thump_. "So, what part of charms do you need help with?" She asked Remus.

Remus looked from the charms book to Adelaide's cold and stony expression. "Addy, you okay?"

"I'm fine!" she snapped. "Can we just focus on this?"

Remus glanced to Sirius who gave him a 'just let her be' sort of look.

"Um... the mending charm..."

Adelaide was actually very helpful despite the fact that she was adamant on being the one to break things so that Remus could mend them. Once finished helping him, she headed back to the dorm... only to be followed by Sirius.

"Really? What's with you and the stalking today?" Adelaide grumbled as Sirius lopped an arm over her shoulder.

"Come on Ads, you know you love seeing my charming smile." he said, flashing her a grin.

Adelaide rolled her eyes, annoyed that he was sort of right. "Too bad you have to talk and ruin the whole effect."

"Oof... that hurt Ads!" he joked with a wink.

Adelaide smirked. "That was sort of the point."

Sirius chuckled at her feistiness. "So, I'm guessing the letter was pretty bad..."

Adelaide shrugged his arm off of her. "It was from my parents. I didn't really expect anything less." She said, all sense of lightness from a moment ago disappeared.

"How bad was it?"

"Mum wrote it, so that should give you a good idea of the dramatics. She called the Potters blood traitors, then forbade me from speaking to James... then asked how Regulus was doing." She scoffed. "The usual... but someone must've told her about all those lovely discussions I've had with Edelmar this year, because she was pissed at me for defending 'half-breeds'..." she said with a shiver

Sirius frowned. "Did she threaten to hurt you?" he asked bluntly.

"It wasn't much of a threat." she said softly. "She seemed to have her mind pretty well made up on the matter."

Sirius stopped in his tracks, causing Adelaide to look back at him. "I can see you plotting to kidnap me. It's all over your face." She sighed with a sad smile.

"Addykins how am I supposed to just let you go back?" Sirius asked, eyes boring into hers, brows knitted together causing little creases to form between them. "Really. Please tell me, because I literally do not know how I'm going to manage it." he said rather pathetically.

Adelaide let out a loud breathy half-chuckle. "I'll tell you what. You find that mirror and I'll consider letting you help me make a prison break."

Sirius's eyes lit up. "Are you being for real Addy?"

Adelaide giggled at his goofy grin. "Yes. Actually, I'm a bit curious as to what sorts of plans you've concocted... mind sharing?"

Sirius beamed. "Do I mind? I'd be delighted! Let's see, where to begin... Well there's the sensible plans to just smuggle you out in the dead of night via floo powder, and then there's the more creative ones involving brooms and one of those thunderbird things we learned about in Care of Magical Creatures—"

"—thunderbirds live in America Pads—"

"There there's another one where we use a mummy as a decoy, then charm you into a chicken—"

"You know what, on second thought maybe it's better if you don't tell me..." she trailed off. Sirius looked a bit disappointed, but brightened when he noticed that a genuine smile had returned to her lips.

"Yeah, maybe it's better if it's a surprise." He winked, finally walking with her back to the common room.

"Would you really go through all that trouble just for me?" she asked sincerely looking up at him.

Sirius looked down at her delicate face with soft eyes, wondering why she would even need to ask a question like that. "I'd do anything for you, Addykins."

Adelaide blushed slightly. "Same here, Siri." she said shyly, unknowingly causing Sirius's heart to flutter. "So, would you mind giving your dear ol' friend a ride up all these bloody stairs?" she asked innocently, batting her lashes.

Sirius pretended to act exasperated. "I suppose." he drawled, leaning down for her to hop on, noticing that the oversized sleeves of her red jumper looked oddly familiar. "Addy, are you wearing my jumper?"

Adelaide blushed a bit more. "Um… yes." she said slowly as he hiked up the many stairs. "You said I could! And this one was so stinking soft and cozy, I legitimately couldn't help myself..." she spewed out in a rush, trailing off as she felt him chuckling.

"Addy, it's fine—!"

"I promise I'll wash it and give it back!" she said quickly.

"Really Ads, it's fine! Actually, you can have it if you like it that much."

Adelaide was shocked. One of the reasons for her onslaught of excuses was that she knew for a fact that this was one of his favorites. "I-I mean… are you sure?"

"Positive." he said cheerfully.

* * *

"ADELAIDE!" called the cold shrill voice of Cathryn Fawley from the train platform one late afternoon in June.

The girl in question wiped away the tears of her emotional goodbyes with the sleeve of the oversized red jumper, then walked with Sirius to where her parents were standing with Regulus and his parents.

"Well that looks familiar," Regulus whispered as he smirked, pinching the soft fabric of the stolen jumper.

Adelaide shot him a warning look. "He let me have it." she hissed.

"Oh I don't doubt it." he said with an eye-roll.

Adelaide looked off to check if her parents were listening in. Cathryn Fawley stood chatting with Walburga and Orion Black about some upcoming party, but her father had wandered away… along with Sirius.

Unbeknownst to Adelaide, Sirius pulled her father aside the second he was able.

"I suspected you would want to chat." Filip drawled in a bored tone to the boy staring him down.

"Are you aware that your wife plans to torture her again?" Sirius said, getting straight to the point.

Surprise flashed in Filip's eyes, betraying his normally cold and emotionless face.

"Okay, I'll take that as a no." Sirius said instantly, catching Filip off guard at how well he could read him. "Well she is, and as much as it literally pains me to ask you for anything, I need you to keep her safe." he said, features seeming mature beyond his years with his serious tone of voice. "I know you care about her… You have a twisted way of showing it, but I know you do. I don't care what kind of deal you have with Voldemort…"

"I don't know what you are—"

"All I care about is Addy. So if you have to marry her off to me or my brother to keep her safe, do it." he said sternly, not letting Filip interrupt.

It was not often that Mr. Fawley was truly surprised, but this lanky fourteen-year-old had managed to achieve this feat thrice in a matter of minutes.

"Lastly," Sirius continued, thankful that Mr. Fawley had not really replied before he lost his nerve. "unless you want her to be a sulking moody mess the entire bloody summer, I sincerely suggest you let her go visit James, or at least let her have Mary over. She's her best friend, and Mary needs Addy just as much as Addy needs her." he finished, breathing a little heavier from having to talk to the intimating man in front of him for so long.

Filip blinked. "That was quite a few requests…" he began, causing Sirius to begin losing heart. "but you were right in saying I care about her." he said softly. "I will do my best."

Sirius looked up at him, not quite believing that those words had really left his mouth. "I really don't care what you do as long as she's safe."


	67. Chapter 67

**Chapter 67- Berwin**

It was yet another dreary, rainy day, the third week of what was turning out to be a very boring summer for Sirius Black. James was out of the country with his parents for another two weeks, meaning Sirius was mostly confined to the stimulating company of his lovely mother, father, and bird obsessed little brother.

To make matters even more dismal, Sirius was currently locked in his room until dinner after an enthusiastic disagreement with his mother over 'proper breakfast etiquette'.

After exhausting his normal forms of solitary amusement (banging his head against the wall, writing yet another letter to Addy that would never get to her, and adding a few new prank ideas to his 'idea journal,' etc.), he finally picked up the muggle book that Remus had given him. It was a book about wizards and magic, that had apparently been written by a muggle, which Sirius found rather amusing.

"Hairy feet and likes to eat? I think Peter is related to this Baggins fellow..." he murmured to himself with a light chuckle.

He was ripped out of his thoughts on what a hobbit even was by barn owl, specifically a pale barn owl with a white heart shaped face and an orange and grey body, which was pecking his bedroom window frantically. This was definitely not an owl Sirius had ever seen before, so he was quite curious as to who could possibly be writing to him.

He sloppily dog eared the page he was reading, and placed the book down on the bed without looking, then raced over to the tall window, pulling the velvet drapes aside to make way for the determined bird.

The moment he opened the window, the rain soaked owl immediately walked in as if it owned the place and sassily stuck out its foot for the boy to untie the letter (which he did, quickly). The owl, while indubitably bossier than any owl Sirius had ever met, was also quite affectionate and nuzzled his hand until he stroked its feathers.

Sirius opened the letter and instantly recognized the untidy, almost illegible handwriting, and nearly fainted from happiness as he collapsed onto his bed.

 **SIRI!**

 **I GOT AN OWL TODAY! HIS NAME IS BERWIN! ISN'T HE THE MOST BEAUTIFUL CREATURE YOU HAVE EVER SEEN!? (He will bite if you don't pet him, FYI.)**

 **My dad got him for me because I did well in my classes or something, but I think he was just tired of having to see me mope around... But the point is, now I can send letters to you and everyone else and I swear I'm so happy I could cry!**

 **Actually I did. At the store. It was a little embarrassing...**

 **How has your summer been? Mine has been dreadful... until now... because I have an owl!**

 **But honestly, what have you been up to? Have you seen any of the boys? Read any good books? Have you been getting on with Reggie? What sorts of pranks have you come up with? What about your parents, have they been ghastly? Have you seen Tom? I hope you haven't. I think he's coming to my house for dinner in a few weeks... I'll keep you updated.**

 **Mother hasn't been home all that much lately, but father has and I've been going to work with him more often than usual. Been a little strange to be honest. I think they got in a row about something, from the way they're acting. Probably had a disagreement on who hated muggles more. ;)**

 **Well, I think that's just about everything. I really miss seeing your ugly misshapen face everyday and hope you're coming to that pretentious gala in a few weeks. It's at Evan's house, so I'm hoping Mary comes too. It would be so much fun to watch them try to out awkward each other again, don't you think?**

 **Write me back as soon as possible!**

 **Love from,** **Addy**

 **Ps. No, Mum hasn't hurt me. And yes, I'm okay... bored out of my mind, but otherwise okay.**

Sirius read and re-read the letter, smiling wider than he had since the train ride home three weeks prior. He could practically hear Adelaide's voice and her melodic giggles. It seemed as if some good came out of his little speech with her father after all... though he had the distinct impression that the owl was a consolation gift for not being able to let her actually go see her friends.

After a while of reading the letter, Berwin became impatient with the boy. The sassy barn owl squawked, then jumped over to Sirius's desk, picked up a quill, then waved it in-front of the boy's face obnoxiously until he finally grabbed it to write his reply.

 **ADDYKINS!**

 **I CANNOT BELIVE YOU GOT AN OWL! Berwin certainly has quite the personality; bossy but sweet. Reminds me a lot of someone else I know. ;)**

 **My summer has been boring too. My parents are just as terrible and joyless as always, and Reg mostly keeps to himself. Prongs is still out of town and the others have been too busy to have me over all that much, so I've had a lot more time to plan some truly amazing pranks for when we get back. I did go see Moony last week though, and he gave me a bunch of new books to read! I'm reading one right now about Hobbits... I don't know what a hobbit is exactly or if they are actually real, but I expect I'll have a better idea once I've finished. Also, no sign of Tom... yet.**

 **Little weird about your parents, but mine do that sometimes as well. Still, I'm glad you're getting out of the house at least, even if it's just to go to some stuffy office.**

 **And YES! I'm fairly certain I will be at the gala, ridiculous penguin suit and all! Maybe I can sneak in some caramel popcorn so we can truly relive old times!**

 **I miss you a lot Addy, but I'm really happy you're safe and THAT YOU GOT AN EFFING OWL!**

 **Always,** **Sirius**

 **PS. Could you send me one of those charmed doodles you made of all of us as animals? I want to put it on my wall.**

Sirius quickly folded the letter, cast a water repelling charm on it, then tied it to the birds foot, giving him one last pet before he flew back through the rain to Fawley Manor.

* * *

Adelaide had been pacing back and forth across the confines of her cozy bedroom for the past half-hour. If she calculated the timing correctly, Berwin should be on his way, or arriving soon with word from Sirius.

The whole day had been a strange one, but the whole summer had been strange to be honest. Not that she was complaining. Hanging out in the presence of a bunch of gruff aurors wasn't high up on her list of things she would like to be doing, but the less time Adelaide had to spend with her constantly agitated mother, the better.

Still, she couldn't help but wonder what had happened for things to change so dramatically? What could possibly have made her parents change their strict, no communication policy by getting her an owl that morning? And why did her father insist on her joining him at work for the past three weeks?

After fifteen more minutes of pacing and pondering, a light tapping on the window of her balcony door sent her racing to let in her new feathery companion.

She squealed as she saw the letter addressed to her in Sirius's beautiful flowing handwriting. "Good job Berwin! Who's a good owl? You are!" She cooed as she pet the now very happy bird, and gave him owl treats.

She ripped open the letter and grinned from ear to ear as she read over its contents. After Berwin had rested up, she wrote Sirius back, and sent the letter off to his home in London along with the picture he had requested. The girl then curled up in her fluffy lavender bed, dressed in Sirius's oversized red jumper that still smelled like him, reading his letter over and over again, imagining his voice in her mind.

As happy as Adelaide was that she had some way to talk to Sirius and her other friends now, she still missed them all so much that it hurt. What she hadn't mentioned in her letter, was how often she cried herself to sleep for just this reason.

Nor did she mention the nightmares that had begun to haunt her once more...

The dreams didn't begin all at once. At first she would wake up a few nights with her heart racing and only a vague idea of what had actually happened. But by time the sixth week of summer rolled along, they were plaguing her nearly every night.

On a particularly stormy night at the beginning of August, the night before the Gala at the Rosier's home, Adelaide drifted off to sleep... again wearing the red jumper she wore when she missed Sirius more than usual.

 _Everywhere she looked there was fire. The tall and relentless animal figures of the_ _Fiendfyre flames_ _consumed and destroyed everything in their path, leaving only ash and despair where life and hope once lived._

 _Adelaide brought her sleeve over her mouth in a desperate attempt to breathe through her labored coughs, feet falling heavy upon the charred ground_ _, stumbling slightly as she ran over the remains of a wooden swing_ _sprinting_ _as fast as she could toward the entrance._ _She dodged a falling limb of the flaming wiggling tree, pulled the charred wooden door open with a wave of her hand, then made her way toward the lean woman whose wand was still raised and looking onto her hellish flames with pride._

 _"P-PLEASE STOP!"_ _Adelaide_ _cried out in tears. "BERWIN IS STILL IN THERE!" She screamed, pointing back to the blazing door of the garden. "PLEASE YOU CAN'T DO THIS! PLEASE MOTHER! P-PLEASE D-DON'T DO TH-THIS!" she sobbed, looking to Cathryn Fawley, whose hawk like face seemed unaware that she had said a word. Adelaide shook her, just to make her listen, and was instantly and painfully flung to the ground by the woman's wand._

 _"B-BERWIN!" she shrieked through her sobs in the arms of a man. "BERWIN!"_

 _"Adelaide." said a low soft voice as she struggled in their strong grip._ "Adelaide wake up."

Adelaide didn't even question the fact that she was sobbing uncontrollably into the shoulder of her father.

"Sh-she burned it." she said, voice broken and hoarse from screaming and crying in her sleep. "She-she burned everything and B-Berwin—"

Filip hushed her as he held her, stroking her hair that looked so much like his, trying to calm her. "Shhh... He's fine. He saw you were upset and came to find me." He said softly.

Adelaide suddenly pulled away slightly, looking around the dark room for the bird, and sobbing harder when she saw his sweet face.

"Sh-she's going t-to k-kill him!" she sobbed desperately.

Filip held her tighter. "Sweetie, no one is going to kill your owl. It was just a dream."

Adelaide ripped herself from his arms. "NO! IT WASN'T!" she shouted furiously, reminding him an awful lot of his ill tempered wife.

"Yes. It was." he said calmly and quietly.

"NO! You don't understand! It wasn't a dream! I know the difference!" She shouted as if he was a complete idiot, wiping away tears with her jumper sleeve.

Filip eyed her in confusion. "The difference between what?"

"BETWEEN WHAT'S REAL AND WHAT'S A DREAM!" she bellowed, ending with a frustrated groan.

"Adelaide, Berwin is fine, nothing is on fire—"

"Not _now_! But it will be!" she said without a hint of doubt lacing her voice.

Realization washed over Filip, and he felt as if he had just fallen into frozen waters.

"You think you saw the future?" He asked calmly, quiet demeanor in stark contrast to the frenzied emotions of his daughter.

"I _know_ I saw the future." she said with an eye roll. "Dumbledore said so—" she cut herself off quickly. Her stomach dropped and heart thumped hard against her chest. She had said too much. Far, _far_ too much.

"Dumbledore?" Her father repeated in monotone. "You've spoken to Dumbledore about this?"

Fear spread through Adelaide, gripping her vocal cords, rendering her speechless, no matter how hard she fought to break through its hold.

"Of course you would speak to him..." Filip said more to himself than to her. Adelaide got the distinct impression that he found him just as annoying and manipulative as she did. "Did you speak to him about anything else, Adelaide." he asked, cool blue eyes boring into her own forest green eyes. Adelaide was still too afraid to speak. "Adelaide I need to know." he said sternly.

Adelaide gulped, then nodded.

"What did you tell him?"

Adelaide thought it best to tell him some of the truth, and leave out the more anger inducing bits about her trying to figure out Tom Riddle's schemes.

"I told him about being able to do wandless magic... well Professor McGonagall did after I charmed a bunch of birds on the boys, they were trying to make me blush though, so they deserved it…" she grumbled, realizing she was getting a little off topic. "But I talked to Dumbledore about it afterwords. He was helping me control it." she answered. "But he stopped... I think I annoyed him." she shrugged. Yes, she was quite certain she annoyed him a great deal when she started poking around his thoughts of Grindelwald.

Filip didn't know which upset him more. The fact that his daughter was in cahoots with Albus Dumbledore, or the fact that he had stopped helping her simply because he found her annoying.

"Adelaide. I need you to listen to me." He began in a gravely serious voice, putting a hand on either side of her arms which were hidden behind the sleeves of a large red jumper that seemed vaguely familiar. "You have to keep these things a secret. I don't want you to tell anyone else about the dreams or the wandless magic."

"B-but why?"

Filip gave a deep sigh then closed his eyes for a long few seconds, brows creased together as if he was in pain before opening them, sadness radiating from somewhere deep within. "Because people will try to use you for their own selfish reasons… or force you to use your talents in a way that may hurt you." he said softly. "Now, It's very late. You should try to get some more sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a late night." Filip said in a tight voice, as he tucked her back into bed before she could ask anymore questions.

Adelaide watched in confusion as he silently left, leaving her alone in the dark room with Berwin and a whole slew of questions.

"This is the weirdest summer I've ever had Berwin." She told the bird who gave a soft squeak in response from its perch near the window. "I won't let them hurt you buddy, I promise. But the next time I'm having a nightmare, please get Mimsy instead, okay?"

Berwin ruffled his feathers in disgruntlement, before tucking his head under his wing to take a nap.

* * *

The next day, Adelaide was uncertain if the events of the previous night actually happened. Was it really her father who had held and consoled her? It seemed awfully out of character for the man who seemed only slightly more interested in her existence than her mother. But at the same time, it seemed entirely like something he would do.

Adelaide finally made her way downstairs much earlier than normal, not gaining nearly as much sleep as she would have hoped after the dramatic events of the night before.

As she padded her way down the stairs toward the breakfast table, she heard muffled voices coming from down the hallway, specifically from her father's study. She could tell that he and her mother were in an argument, but she couldn't quite make out what they were saying. So, she slowly crept toward the door, to listen in.

"—I can't take it! And just to add to matters, that blasted bird keeps screaming and screeching all night! I want it gone!"

"Cathy. The bird stays." Filip said softly, yet firmly.

Cathryn Fawley let out an annoyed groan. "It's ridiculous that we even got her that silly animal. You know exactly who she is going to be writing to—"

"Is it such a bad thing? They _are_ going to be engag—"

"NO! No! I refuse to agree to that." Cathryn said quickly, cutting him off. "She will not sully our name with the likes of a blood traitor! I want her to be with that Rosier boy!"

Filip laughed in disbelief. "You mean you don't want to be in laws with Dahlia?"

"She's a gossip," she scoffed. "and Evan seemed to handle Adelaide well..." she said in a softer voice.

Adelaide felt like throwing up just at the thought.

Filip gave a sigh. "Sirius cares for her deeply Cathy, you have to have noticed."

Cathryn was silent, and Adealide felt her stomach flip.

"He would keep her safe, and Riddle wouldn't have any reason to—"

"Don't. Don't bring _him_ into this." she spat. "That man tried to… he tried to kill her Filip." she said in a strained voice.

'Yes, and you tortured me you maniac,' Adelaide thought to herself with an internal scoff.

"I told you I would keep her safe, and Sirius is the way to do that."

"NO!" she yelped. "That boy defends monsters! HE IS TEACHING _HER_ TO DEFEND MONSTERS!"

"Cathy I know how you feel about werewo—"

"THOSE MONSTERS KILLED MY SON! THEY MUTILATED HIM! AND THEN I GET LETTERS SAYING HOW SHE DEFENDED THEM IN CLASS! THAT IS _THAT BOY'S_ DOING!" she said furiously.

Adelaide felt like the wind had been knocked out of her lungs. She had a brother?

"Cathy! I know. Believe me there isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about him. But Alexander—"

"DON'T SAY HIS NAME!" her mother yelled, sound muffled as if she was hiding her face in her hands.

"He is gone. He's gone, but you still have a daughter that needs you. Who needs her mother." Filip said firmly. "You can't keep pushing her away—You need to get over this fear you have of loving her."

"Like you're one to talk." her mother scoffed. "I'm not having this conversation again, Filip." she said in a cold and icy voice.

Adelaide could hear footsteps head toward the door, and quickly slipped into a nearby abandoned guest room, breath ragged and shallow from the weight of the conversation she had just overheard.

Once sure that her parents were downstairs, she ran back up to her room to compose herself, which was much more difficult than she had really anticipated.

If she wasn't absolutely sure that it was her parent's voices, she would have never believed that it was really them speaking.

She had a brother. Alexander. A brother named Alexander that no one had ever bothered to tell her existed. A brother who was killed by a werewolf.

In a daze, she made her way to the breakfast table and quietly ate her oatmeal, avoiding eye contact with her mother and father.

"We will be leaving at seven tonight, be sure to wear the dress I picked out for you." her mother said coldly at breakfast. "I will be doing your make up once again, but you should really learn to manage it on your own at some point."

"Yes ma'am." Adelaide mumbled.

"Speak clearly!" her mother barked.

Adelaide looked up, a bit startled by her aggressive tone, catching a glance of her father who looked at her mother with an unreadable expression. "Yes ma'am." she said clearly.


	68. Chapter 68

**Chapter 68- So Freaking Gorgeous**

As Adelaide sat upon the vanity stool, eyes closed while her mother caked on globs and globs of make up, she hardly registered the steady stream of insults flying out of Cathryn Fawley's mouth. All she could think about was that she had a brother. A brother no one told her about. Why hadn't they told her? What was he like? When did he die? What else were they keeping from her...

"Done. Now, pull off those clothes so I can help you into the dress." her mother ordered, pulling her out of her thoughts.

Adelaide hesitated, feeling a little self-conscious.

"Now!" her mother commanded.

Reluctantly, Adelaide slipped off the dress she had been wearing down to her undergarments, trying to hide herself as much as possible with her arms from the disapproving looks of her mother. She stepped into the long black evening dress, watching her reflection in the full length mirror in horror. Backless with a plunging neckline, the dress made her so uncomfortable she couldn't help but try to hide as much of her body as she could with her hair, arms, and hunched over shoulders .

"Stand up straight!" her mother said, hands pulling her shoulders back into their proper posture.

"M-mother, I can't wear this." Adelaide said in a small desperate voice, looking up with pleading eyes. "Please let me wear something else."

Cathryn clenched her jaw. "You are wearing this dress. We need you to make a good impression on the families of your suitors. You have finally filled out a bit and I want them to see the figure you have developed."

Adelaide hated the way her mother spoke of her as if she was some animal up for auction. Yes, she had developed some curves over the summer, but that didn't mean she was entirely comfortable with it yet. She was still a twiggy nearly-fourteen year old, just with more hips than before.

"Can we at least cover up this..." she asked, gesturing to her chest.

"No, now sit down and be quiet while I finish your hair... It looks like a birds nest." she said, looking down her nose at the girl's messy knot holding the top half of her hair and wrenching it free. Adelaide winced and willed herself not to cry as her mother yanked the brush through her white blonde locks, trying to dispel all knots with anything but a gentle touch.

Thankfully, her mother let her hair stay down, meaning Adelaide could use it to cover up.

Slowly but surely, Adelaide walked down the grand white marble staircase, wobbly in her shoes from nerves caused by the dress, to where her mother and father were waiting for her.

"Cathryn. She isn't wearing _that_ in public." her father said instantly without even a thought as to his wife's reaction.

"She _is_ wearing it, and that's final!" her mother huffed.

Filip ignored his wife as he pulled out his wand and brought the plunging neckline up to a suitable length for a thirteen year old girl. Adelaide had never loved her father more than in that moment.

"Filip!"

"Now, I think this needs something..." Mr. Fawley said, studying his daughter and ignoring his annoyed wife. Adelaide was a little wary as he pulled out his wand again and wordlessly conjured a large, velvet jewelry case.

Mrs. Fawley actually looked less annoyed with her husbands idea, which made Adelaide even more nervous.

Slowly and carefully, Filip opened the box to reveal a breathtakingly beautiful silver diadem, with dazzling diamond roses all around, and a large emerald in the center. Adelaide stared at the glittering hairpiece rather stupidly, mouth agape and eyes wide. This was not just any pretty piece of jewelry, this was a Fawley family heirloom... an heirloom Adelaide never actually knew they had.

The diadem originally belonged to Roesia Fawley, one of the first of the Fawley name, and quite possibly the only family member Adelaide had ever admired aside from her great aunt Bathilda. Roesia was ahead of her time in many ways. She was a highly respected leader in the wizarding community despite being a woman, and also happened to be the only woman to attend The International Warlock Convention of 1289.

Adelaide had seen the large portrait of Roesia Fawley hanging in the library, wearing this specific glittering diadem for as long as she could remember, but the painting didn't quite do it justice.

With a flick of his wand, Filip levitated the diadem from the case and gently placed it in Adelaide's hair.

She was honestly delighted... until she realized that she was essentially about to wear a crown... to a party of purebloods... with lots of students she went to school with.

"Do you not want to wear it?" Filip asked, a bit puzzled by her quick change of emotions.

"I do! I- um... it's just..." Adelaide grappled for the right words to explain her predicament. "Well it's just that the kids at school already tease me for being a 'Pureblood Princess'... and wearing a tiara is really not going to help matters."

Cathryn Fawley rolled her eyes, seemingly finding this troubling fact ridiculous. "We are going to be late if we don't leave now." she drawled.

Without any further discussion, the Fawley family walked outside the manor to apperate to the Rosier's house, where they quickly followed a crowd of people into the foyer of the large brick home.

Within seconds upon entering, the booming genial voice and happy disposition of Allen Rosier greeted them. "Oh there's Miss Adelaide! You look absolutely stunning! Evan has been going on and on about you and that friend of yours— Mary, I believe it was? He will be so pleased to see you!"

Adelaide smiled at the man. She knew from what Evan had said about his parents, Allen and Aquilla, that they were just as prejudiced as her own, but she had such a hard time hating them when they were so sweet. "Thank you Mr. Rosier." she said shyly.

"Last I saw, he was near the desserts table with Regulus." Allen winked, nodding toward the ballroom.

Adelaide spared a look at her parents, just to make sure it was okay that she go running off, then quickly walked in the direction of the desserts the moment she received a nod from her mother.

She weaved through all the people, until she reached the center of the room, hoping to find out where exactly the desserts table was from there. The room was crowded with purebloods wearing their fanciest dress robes, walls decorated with long dark hangings, making the shimmering silver chandeliers and floating candles stand out like stars in the sky. Glasses of Firewhiskey and wine were offered by house elves lifting large silver trays over their heads, wandering around the masses of people talking and dancing to the classical music played by the band on the left side of the room.

Adelaide was standing on her tip-toes, trying to peer around the hoards of people, when a familiar voice caught her completely off guard.

"Holy shit Addykins, is that you?"

Quickly, Adelaide whirled around to the source and saw Sirius standing looking more handsome than ever in his black dress robes, dark curly hair falling into his eyes.

"SIRIUS!" she squealed with a grin, running to give him a massive embrace.

It took a moment for him to really hug her back, and when she finally let him loose his face was adorned with a rather shocked expression. She thought now might be a useful time to implement legilimency, but figured it might be a bit rude.

Sirius continued to stare at her, looking her up and down with a look of slight queasiness.

"Sirius?" she said in a worried tone. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

In an instant, Sirius shook his head. "You—I-I just— you look— You— I—" he sputtered incoherently, causing Adelaide to blush, thinking it was because he thought she looked ridiculous.

"I know, it's too much make up, and my dad tried to fix the dress, but it's still—"

"Addy, please stop talking. I'm trying to tell you how pretty you look." Sirius said in an almost annoyed tone of voice.

"What?" she squeaked.

Sirius took a deep breath, looking at her with a slightly dazed expression. "You look so freaking gorgeous."

Adelaide blushed bright red beneath her globs of make up. "Well you look pretty _gorgeous_ too." she mocked cheekily with a wink.

Sirius let out a loud barking laugh. Her comment seemed to break him out of his stupor. "I think Mary finally found Evan, want to go watch them be awkward?"

"What kind of ridiculous question is that? Of course I do!" she said with her hands on her hips.

Sirius smirked, then grabbed her hand and led her through the crowds of people toward the two awkward teens.

They hid behind a large powered blue couch, rendering them hidden from view, while having an excellent vantage spot to spy on the dessert table.

"Oh look at Regulus, he looks so fed up with them," Adelaide sniggered, noticing that Sirius still hadn't let go of her hand... but finding that she quite liked the feeling of it clutching her own.

"Probably considering throwing them into a broom closet until they come to their senses." Sirius smirked.

Adelaide looked contemplative. "Honestly, I think you might be right."

Sirius chuckled... then realized he was still holding Adelaide's hand. He quickly let go, and stood up. "Um... you know, I think it's better if we say hi or something first." he said, ending in an awkward cough.

Adelaide stood up with confusion clouding her features, glancing over to Mary, Evan, and Sirius's _brother_ Regulus... Then she remembered.

"No. First, we need to talk." she said sternly, grabbing his hand and leading him into a quiet, abandoned hall of the house... looking for a better place to hide.

"A-addy... what—"

"Shush!"

Sirius shushed, but was very worried about being alone with her when she looked the way she did. His resolve to not kiss her was wavering more than ever.

Of course, this was the furthest thing from Adelaide's mind as she finally settled upon a guest washroom, far enough away from the party that they would not be disturbed or overheard, tugging Sirius in behind her.

"No one should bug us here." she said as she turned to face him, finding that he was much, _much_ closer than she expected him to be. She blinked a few times, train of thought completely derailed by his grey eyes. He was doing that thing where he looked at her as if she was the only thing that mattered in the world... it always made her stomach go into knots.

Seconds passed by, but neither one of them looked away, mostly because neither one really wanted to. Adelaide wasn't sure if he moved closer or she did, but suddenly they were so close that she was certain he could hear her heart pounding a mile a minute in her chest.

His eyes were flashing down to her mouth, and she still couldn't find the strength to move away as he lifted his hand to move a stray hair from her face, hand lingering near her cheek, thumb brushing her jaw. Sirius gently tilted her face up toward his, moving closer and closer, until he was nearly out of focus, lips dangerously close to her own.

Adelaide took a deep breath and the words left her mouth like vomit, "I had a brother named Alexander, but he was killed by a werewolf, and my parents have kept it a secret for my whole life." she spewed out in a rush.

Frazzled does not even come close to describing how disoriented and befuddled Sirius felt. He nearly pushed her over as he realized how very close he was to almost kissing his best friend in a bathroom, backing himself all the way to the door. Then the words sunk in. "Wait, WHAT?!"

Adelaide backed far away to the opposite wall, then slowly explained the whole weird conversation she had over heard between her parents that morning.

"How— how could they just not tell you!? And a werewolf... oh this is just going to tear moony apart." Sirius said running his hands through his hair, as he slid down to sit on the ground, back leaned against the door.

"I know. I can't figure it out." Adelaide said softly from where she sat similarly against the opposite wall. "but it makes more sense as to why they got me a lunascope for Christmas." she shrugged. "I just— I don't even know how to ask them about it. I get the feeling that mother would just crucio me if I even brought it up..."

"What about your dad?" Sirius asked.

Adelaide bit her lip, looking down, deep in thought. "Well after last night, I think— I think there's a chance he would tell me something."

Sirius felt like he was missing some information. "After _last night_?"

Adelaide looked up and realized she hadn't said a thing to Sirius about the nightmares or the dramatic events of the night before. "Um... well... I've— I've been having the nightmares again... the ones that aren't really nightmares..." she said cryptically, hoping he would catch on.

Sirius's face drained of color. "You saw the future... me being tortured..."

"No! I mean, yes to the first part, but they haven't been about you." she clarified. Sirius seemed a little relieved. "I saw mum... setting my garden on fire... with Berwin still inside." she said in a small voice.

Sirius, forgetting why he had to keep his distance from her in the first place, got up and sat beside her. He knew how much she cared about her garden and the bossy little bird, and knew it must have been absolutely horrible for her to witness something like that. "I'm so sorry you had to see that Addy."

She gave him a sad smile, and leaned her shoulder against his. "There's something else though.." Adelaide then explained how her father had consoled her, and how she accidentally told him about Dumbledore, how the dreams were really visions or something, and how he said to keep it a secret.

"That is a lot to take in Ads..."

"Tell me about it." she said rolling her eyes.

"Well you didn't tell him about Riddle, so that's good at least. But I think he's right about keeping it a secret... You don't need to give Riddle another reason to put pressure on you." Sirius said thoughtfully.

"Yeah, you're probably right..." Adelaide trailed off, thoughts going back to the brother she never knew she had. "Why didn't they tell me about him, Sirius?" she asked.

Sirius was a little confused as to whom she was referring to.

"I don't even know if he was my little brother or older... Do you think I came along after it happened, or that they obliviated me? I hope they didn't obliviate me. That would just be cruel. To have memories with my brother, but to have them taken away..." Adelaide said, mostly to herself.

Sirius put his arm around her shoulders. "I dunno Ads. But I promise I'll help you figure it out." he said, giving her a reassuring squeeze.

Adelaide looked up and gave him a little smile.

"I hate to do this, but we should really get back to that stupid party... if for no other reason than to save Regulus from having to be alone with the love birds..." Sirius smirked causing Adelaide to giggle.

As they made their way back to the ballroom, Adelaide caught a small glimpse of Regulus looking especially smug and whispering something to Sirius, but her attention was quickly brought to the tall brunette wearing a pretty pink gown.

"ADDY BELL! OH GOOD MERLIN YOU LOOK LIKE A PRINCESS!" Mary exclaimed, running full force toward her best friend from where she was previously standing beside a love sick Evan Rosier, squeezing her in a fierce hug.

"Mary— can't—breathe—"

"Whoops!" Mary chuckled letting her free. "I've just missed you so m-much Addy." she said with misty eyes.

"No crying Mary!" Adelaide laughed, as they walked back toward where Evan and Regulus were now standing next to Sirius.

Sirius watched Adelaide and Mary make their way back, and tried very hard to focus on anything but Regulus smirking. "Stop making that face." he hissed to the annoying Slytherin.

"Stop staring at her." Regulus teased in a whisper. "I'm sure she'll be happy to run off for another snog when she's done catching up with everyone— OW!"

"I told you nothing happened!" Sirius insisted.

Regulus smirked wider, rubbing the place where his brother had just jabbed him in the ribs. "But you wanted it to..."

"Sirius, you okay? You look upset." Adelaide said with a frown.

"Oh he's upset alright." Regulus said looking between the two.

"Would you just shut up?!" Sirius snapped.

Evan raised his eyebrows at the interaction. "So, Addy... that's quite the owl you've got..." he said, trying to change the subject. "Couldn't you have picked one that bites less?" he half-joked, scratching the back of his neck.

Mary tried not to smile. "He only bites if you don't pet him Ev!" she told him, giving him a little playful swat.

"Oh, Sorry... I think I may have forgotten to mention that in the letter." Adelaide said, smiling sheepishly.

Evan rolled his eyes. "That could have been useful... information..." he trailed off as he looked behind the two girls into the distance.

Adelaide looked behind her in confusion, then narrowed her eyes as she saw a handsome man in a dark suit speaking to her father.

Regulus must have seen him as well. "Sirius, maybe you and Addy should go dance or something..." he suggested, his teasing tone replaced with that of worry.

Sirius followed his brother's eyes, and saw Tom Riddle lurking. He moved to whisk Adelaide away, but soon realized she had already bolted through the crowd.

Adelaide knew Sirius would follow after her, but hoped he wouldn't draw too much attention to her as he did so. As she weaved through the sea of people toward the opposite side of the room by the band, she was stopped in her tracks by someone grabbing her arm tightly. At first, she thought it might be Sirius, but he would never grab her in such a painful and aggressive manner.

She tried to wrench herself free as she looked behind her.

"Well don't you look stunning, Princess." drawled her captor.

"Let me go, Avery." she growled.

"Now why would I do that?" he asked with a terrifying sneer.

"Because if you don't I will hex you right here in front of everyone." she said through her teeth.

"So feisty," he chuckled. "Why don't you dance with me for a bit?" he said, grip so tight on her bare arm that she was certain it would bruise.

"Why don't you let go of me?" she said, struggling to get free of his awkward grip.

Avery feigned thoughtfulness. "You see, I would, but I quite like having you around."

"Let me go!" she said a little louder, hoping someone would help her.

Avery's pointed face became cold. "Shut it. Didn't your mother teach you any manners?"

"Yours apparently didn't!" she spat, still trying to wriggle free.

"It seems the girl doesn't wish to be in your company, son. I suggest you let go of her." said a voice Adelaide knew all too well.

She almost wished she was still in Avery's creepy clutches as he ran away, leaving her alone with Tom Riddle.

"I didn't need your help, sir." she said coolly.

Riddle let out a cold high chuckle. "I believe the words you are looking for are 'thank you.'"

Adelaide stared back at him impassively, guarding her mind from any of his prying.

"Just as willful as you were last summer I see..." he said with a bit of an edge to his voice, hand moving to touch the jeweled diadem. "Ah, I'm so glad to see this back with it's proper owner..."

"What are you talking about?" Adelaide asked, cursing herself for falling for his bait.

"Did your father not tell you that I was the one to locate this lost family heirloom?" he asked, earning only a cold look from the girl. "I suppose he did not." he said airily.

It seemed the diadem was just another item on the long list of things her parents were keeping from her. The fortified defenses of Adelaide's mind wavered as anger her rose within her.

"Ah... family. It's a precious thing, don't you think?" Riddle mused. "I imagine you have plenty of questions about your own..." he said knowingly, as the memory of the overheard conversation flashed in her mind.

Adelaide's need for answers was struggling against her hatred for the man in front of her... Unfortunately, her curiosity got the best of her. "Did you know Alexander?" she blurted out.

A sickly smile stretched across Riddle's waxy reptilian face. "I did. And I can tell you everything... things your parents will never tell you..." he said softly. "For a price."

Of course. There was always a catch. Riddle never said or did anything unless it benefited him.

Adelaide looked into his blood red eyes, trying very hard to keep him from reading her mind as she thought over her reply.

"What price?" she asked.

Riddle seemed quite pleased with her question. "I have a very important item that needs... protecting... and I believe you, Miss Fawley, are just the one for the task."

Adelaide furrowed her brows at his proposal.

"Addy! Addykins! Where the bloody hell are you!?"

Adelaide's heart began to race as she heard Sirius's voice coming closer.

"I will give you time to think it over." Riddle said in a much too polite voice, slithering back through the crowd until he was out of view.

"ADDY! There you are!" Sirius exclaimed in relief, pulling her into a hug against his chest. Adelaide wrapped her arms around him and breathed in the familiar scent, tense muscles relaxing a fraction. "Addy, you just ran off—" Sirius said as he pulled away.

"I know, I'm sorry." she said quickly.

"It's okay, I was just worried—Good Merlin! What the hell happened to your arm!?" he exclaimed, seeing the bruise already beginning to form from where Avery had grabbed her. He lightly traced his fingers over the bruise, causing Adelaide to wince. "Who did this to you!?" He asked furiously. "ADELAIDE TELL ME WHO DID THIS TO YOU!"

"Stop yelling at me!" Adelaide pleaded. After Avery and Riddle, the last thing she needed right now was Sirius being a dramatic poodle. "I'm fine!"

"No. You are not _fine_. Someone hurt you." he said sternly. "Now, kindly tell me who it was so I can kill them."

"Sirius! Stop it!"

"I'm not really going to kill them... unless you want me to..."

"SIRIUS!"

"Merlin! I was kidding! But really, please tell me who hurt you."

"Bloody hell! I just told you I was fine!" she screeched furiously. "Just leave me alone!"

Hurt flashed across Sirius's face. "Addy I'm sorry…" he said moving closer, looking at her with glassy eyes.

"I need some air." she said softly.

Sirius nodded, and guided her through the crowd of people toward the back balcony, and stood silently beside her as she tried to collect herself in the breezy August air.

Adelaide felt nauseous with the weight of her guilt and shame. Not only had she lashed out at her best friend, but she had also fallen right into Riddle's manipulation game. However, worst of all, she was actually considering taking him up on his offer.

"I'm sorry I snapped at you." she said softly.

Sirius's eyes were still fixed on the stars above. "I forgive you."

"I don't want you to leave me alone." she said softly.

"Good, because I wasn't planning to." he said, lips quirking upward into a smile as he finally looked down at her.

"It was Avery." she said softly. "who grabbed me."

Sirius looked absolutely indignant.

"Riddle told him to go away."

Sirius looked more upset than before, breathing heavily, brows knitted together. "I leave you alone for five minutes and all hell breaks loose!" he exclaimed, throwing his arms in the air to express his utter exasperation.

"Certainly seems that way, doesn't it." she chuckled lightly at his theatrical ways.

"What did Riddle want?" he asked, not really wanting to know the answer.

Adelaide sighed and scrunched her eyes shut, then recounted the conversation to Sirius, not being able to bear the look on his face.

"Addy. Open your eyes." Sirius said in a tired voice once she was finished.

Adelaide shook her head. "No thank you."

Sirius chuckled. "You look ridiculous."

"Ridiculously cute?" she asked.

"Sure... We can go with that." he laughed. "I know you want to take him up on his offer Ads, and I'm not judging you."

Adelaide peaked an eye open. "You're not?"

"No. I think it would be a stupid thing to do, but I can see why you would feel it's necessary."

"It is stupid, isn't it?" she said softly looking down.

Sirius picked up her hand and held it in his own, gently stroking her wrist with his thumb. "I promise we will find answers Addy, but this is not the way."

Adelaide nodded. "You're right."

"If you're ready, we should really head back in before Reg thinks we've run off again to—"

Adelaide shot him a curious look as he cut himself off. "What does Reg think we've done?"

Sirius felt his ears burning. "Nothing. Let's just get back inside."

Adelaide raised an eyebrow, but followed him in anyway.

The rest of night was mostly spent laughing with the others and avoiding their parents until the guests began to filter out. Sirius walked Adelaide back up to the front of the house when they heard her mother's shrill voice calling for her.

They were almost to the foyer when Tom Riddle came slithering out of nowhere. He looked at the two, standing arm and arm, with a look of mild satisfaction. "Have you made up your mind on my offer Miss Fawley?" he asked with a too-charming smile.

"I have, sir." she said in a polite voice. "I must decline, for now."

If Mr. Riddle was surprised or disappointed, his face certainly didn't show it. He simply nodded, and bid them both a good night as they continued on their way.

"He took that well…" Sirius muttered under his breath.

Adelaide frowned. "He did, didn't he." she said as they entered the foyer where Mr. and Mrs. Fawley were chatting with his own parents.

Sirius pulled her aside to the corner behind a statue. "Sirius what—?"

"Oh calm down, I just wanted to say goodbye without everyone watching." he chuckled, but something in his eyes betrayed his easy going demeanor.

"Oh." Adelaide said simply, slightly confused as to why it was such a big deal.

Sirius ran a hand through his hair. "Um… I-I'm really glad I got to see you tonight."

"I'm glad I got to see you tonight too." she said with a smile. "It would have been dreadfully boring without you." she chuckled.

Sirius chuckled awkwardly. "Um… and you looked, well _look_ really pretty… not that you don't always look pretty, because you do… it's just um…"

"Thank you." Adelaide said, fairly amused with how adorably awkward he was being.

Sirius gave her a grateful smile. "and um… about what erm… happened in the bathroom… I'm sorry…"

Adelaide made a puzzled expression, trying to remember what he could be talking about… until she remembered the almost kiss that she ruined. "O-oh, um… don't worry about it." she said awkwardly.

Sirius gave her a blank look. Don't worry about it? _Don't worry about it?!_ All he did was worry about it! Every time she looked at him he couldn't help but worry about it! WHAT DID THAT EVEN MEAN?!

"Um… Sirius?"

"I-I um… it won't happen again."

Adelaide felt her heart sink. "Oh."

Sirius saw the hurt look on her face and wished he could take back those words. "Not in a bathroom at least…" he said softly, half-joking.

Adelaide's eyes flashed to his as she smiled and tucked her hair behind her ear.

"ADELAIDE!" screamed her mother from the other end of the room. "HURRY UP! WE ARE LEAVING!"

Adelaide let out a grumbling growl of annoyance for her mother that Sirius found hilarious. "Come on, let's go before she get's really mad." he chuckled.

They walked to the front of the room and Adelaide gave Sirius a long hug goodbye. "I'll see you in a few weeks." she said sadly as she began to pull away.

Sirius looked at her with a striking amount of intensity, an arm still on her waist with her hand resting on his chest. "Can't I just kidnap you?" he asked with an exaggerated frown.

Adelaide giggled. "Only if you bring the thunderbird."

Sirius nodded, feigning thoughtfulness. "Deal." he said softly, moving the hair from her eyes with the hand that wasn't on her waist, tucking it behind her ear. His heart was thumping so wildly he swore he might just die, but the stupid Gryffindor was screaming in his head and there was no backing out at this point. He leaned down and pressed the sweetest and softest of kisses to her cheek.

Then he let her go, highly satisfied with the look of happiness and surprise adorning her face as she dragged herself back to her screaming mother.


	69. Chapter 69

**Chapter 69-The Department of Magical Law Enforcement**

Adelaide was quite proud of herself. Somehow she made it all the way from the foyer of the Rosier's house to her bedroom before squealing and rolling around on her bed like a giggling dying bug.

Sirius fancied her.

She was absolutely positive.

Not that she didn't think he fancied her before, but his little kiss on the cheek was confirmation. And what a lovely confirmation it was.

For one night she would allow herself to squeal and giggle and revel in the fact that he maybe, probably, most likely fancied her. For one night she would forget how very stupid it was for her to allow herself to develop feelings for her best friend in the first place. For one night she would allow herself to dream of a day when she didn't have to hide her feelings anymore.

She resolved in her mind that once the sun rose the next morning, she would officially put these pesky, dangerous feelings aside for the preservation of their friendship.

Of course, this would not be the case. For as resolved as her mind was on putting the whole matter behind her, her heart was even more resolved on fancying the stuffing out of him.

The joy that Sirius's little kiss brought her made her almost forget how upset she was with her parents for keeping such large, life-changing pieces of information from her. _Almost_. She was a very strong willed girl after all. There was no way she was going to give up on that mystery without a fight.

So, as the weeks passed on, she waited for the right moment to bring up the topic of Alexander. She was very close to bringing the subject up on her birthday, but was ultimately distracted by the new Nimbus racing broom she received.

Again and again the opportunities to bring up the subject of her long lost brother slipped through her fingers. By time the last week of summer rolled around, she was beginning to give up hope of finding any answers, and focused her efforts instead on finishing her summer assignments so that Lily and Remus wouldn't kill her on the train ride back to school.

Once more, she found herself in the squashy chair in the corner of her father's stuffy office in the Ministry, reading her History of Magic text book, and trying her hardest not to nod off to sleep.

"I have a meeting in fifteen minutes, I need you to head out to the break room." her father said without looking up from his stack of papers, jolting her awake.

"Okay." Adelaide said with a yawn as she lazily waved her wand, muttering a charm that made all her belongings neatly place themselves in her bag.

"You really shouldn't do that." her father commented, still engrossed in whatever important matter he was reading up on. He made comments like this often, but never actually seemed all that upset about her using magic outside of school.

"It's more expedient." she replied casually, throwing the bag over her shoulder.

Her father finally looked up. "I'll send Mrs. Orpington to fetch you when I'm through."

Adelaide nodded, then made her way out of the dark stuffy office, through the hallway of fake enchanted windows, and into the bustling room of aurors toward the break room in the corner.

The Aruor's office was always a rather lively place. Rows and rows of cubicles filled the large room, each with pictures of dark wizards and news paper clippings pinned up above the various bits of paperwork strewn across their desks. The aurors all seemed to really enjoy their work and each other, but Adelaide could never imagine herself in their place. She always fancied herself a future curse breaker for Gringotts.

As she trotted along the boring carpet to the boring break room to do her boring paper over the boring Goblin Rebellions, she saw a familiar un-boring face... then _two_ familiar un-boing faces.

"Little Porskoff?! Is that you?!" called one ginger.

"Blimey it is!" chuckled the other. "Em! OI EM!" he called to someone in a cubical a few rows down. "EM YOU'LL NEVER BELIEVE WHO'S HERE!"

The head of a slightly perturbed woman with long brown hair, and deep blue almond shaped eyes popped up, looking at the man in annoyance. "Fabian! This better be good!" she said rolling her eyes as she stomped over to the two.

Adelaide laughed and ran up to the two grinning gingers. "Hi!" she chirped with a little wave.

"Adelaide!" the girl exclaimed walking toward her with a much kinder expression than the one of annoyance she had been wearing only a few moments previously. "Oh sweetie, it's so good to see you!" she said as she gave the girl a warm hug so kind and nurturing that Adelaide didn't want to ever let go.

"What are you doing here?" asked Gideon.

"Um... well my dad is um... the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement..." she informed him shyly.

"Filip Fawley's your dad... I really feel like I should have known this." Gideon trailed off as Emmeline rolled her eyes.

"What are you all doing here?" Adelaide asked.

"We are training to be Aurors." Fabian said proudly, puffing up his chest. "We were just assigned our desks this week! Soon there will be three new Prewetts out ridding the wold of dark wizards."

Adelaide tilted her head to the side in puzzlement. "Three?"

Fabian smirked. "Emmeline and I are engaged."

Adelaide must have looked a little shocked by the news. "I know, you would never know they were madly in love by the way they bicker." Gideon chuckled.

Emmeline shrugged. "Bickering keeps things interesting."

"I'll keep that in mind." Adelaide giggled.

"So where were you off to when we started screaming at you?" Fabian asked in all sincerity.

"The break room. My dad has a meeting and I have a paper to finish up before I go back to school." she said dolefully.

"Need any help?" asked Gideon.

"Know anything about the Goblin Rebellions?"

All three Aurors-in-training made a face of disgust. "History really isn't our forte..." Emmeline said kindly. "Moody would probably be the best one to ask, but he's a little..."

"Gruff?" said Fabian.

"Ill-natured?" suggested Gideon.

"Crotchety?"

"Suspicious?"

"Terrifying?"

"Paranoid?"

"Taciturn?"

"Intense?" Adelaide sugested. "I know. We've met a few times. But I like his catch phrase."

"Constant Vigilance!" Fabian and Gideon said together in a spot on interpretation of the seasoned Auror's signature growl.

"Stop your lallygagging and get back to work you two!" said an equally growly voice.

"Um... talk to you later Little Porskoff!" Fabian said, ducking back into his cubical along with his brother (Emmeline had the good sense to leave as soon as she saw Moody make his way toward them).

Adelaide was about to bolt off to the break room, but instead turned around to face the gruff Auror. "Excuse me Mr. Moody, um... you wouldn't happen to know anything about The Goblin Rebellions, would you?" she asked in a sweet, but hesitant voice looking up to the battle hardened wizard.

Alastor Moody gave her a calculating look with his beady eyes, probably trying to figure out if she had any ulterior motives, which she honestly didn't at this point in the conversation. "I do." he growled at last.

Adelaide nodded. "Would you mind erm... helping me with my paper? I'm having some trouble with one rebellion in particular..."

Moody gave her another calculating stare.

"I understand if you need to get back to work, I just thought I would ask." she added, tucking her pale blonde hair behind her ear then clutching the strap of her book bag.

"Come on." he said, stomping over toward the break room and sitting at the table, then patting the seat beside him for her to join him, which she did, quickly. "Now, which Rebellion are you having trouble with?" he asked.

Adelaide blinked, then pulled out her book, parchment, and blue quill and ink with a wave of her wand, not really remembering that she was technically not allowed to do magic outside of school. With another wave of her wand, the book opened itself to the page in question. "The one in 1752... well really it's to do with the ramifications of the ministries mishandling..."

The Auror nodded thoughtfully, then much to Adelaides surprise, explained in detail all about the rebellion itself, the reasoning behind the quick turnover in the ministry, and the long lasting effects that contributed to the future rebellions. For someone who was usually very un-personable, Adelaide found Moody's style of teaching quite engaging.

By the end of his little tutoring session, she was sure she understood the rebellions better than anyone else in her year.

"Thank you very much for helping me, sir." Adelaide said politely.

Moody made a growling sound and gave her a curt nod.

"I do have one more question..."

"Yes?"

"Um... well why aren't goblin's allowed to carry wands?" she inquired.

The gruff wizard was not often surprised, it was one of the advantages to 'constant vigilance', but Adelaide had very much caught him off guard with that particular question. He assumed, her being the daughter of Filip and Cathryn Fawley, that the answer would be quite obvious.

"Well, they aren't human." he answered simply.

"So?" Adelaide asked. "They do magic and can think and feel just like we can. What gives us any more right than them?"

Alastor Moody had been surprised twice. Never in all his days did he _ever_ expect to hear such words coming from the mouth of a Fawley. "That is an excellent question."

"That was not an answer..."

"Miss Fawley?" called an older witch Adelaide recognized as her father's secretary, Mrs. Orpington. "Your father's meeting is finished."

"Oh... well, thank you again for all your help Mr. Moody." Adelaide said happily as she gathered her things and walked with the older woman back to her father's office.

"Anytime." he said with what Adelaide assumed was supposed to be a smile.

She entered back into the office and returned to the squashy oversized chair in the corner, pulling out her quill and parchment with a wave of her wand.

"Have you finished the history essay?" her father asked, eyes fixed on his paperwork, as always.

"Not yet, But Mr. Moody was helping me."

Filip looked up in confusion. "Alastor Moody?"

Adelaide nodded.

"He helped you?"

"Yes! He was loads of help actually. Explained everything almost as well as Great Aunt Bathilda—"

"I've told you before, she is no longer a part of this family."

"Just because you say she isn't doesn't mean we still aren't related to her..." Adelaide mumbled.

"Bathilda made her choice when she chose to marry that muggle from Godric's Hollow." he said sternly.

Adelaide was about to let the subject drop, but then realization struck her like a bolt of lightning. If there ever were a time to bring up family, and more specifically _former_ members of the family, this was it.

"You know, Regulus and Sirius have a big family tree on the walls of their house... their mother burns peoples faces off for stuff like that." she said casually.

Mr. Fawley nodded. "Most purebloods have a family tree of sorts to keep track of things." he said as he put away a particularly thick file with a wave of his wand.

"Does that mean we have one?" she asked, hoping she was hiding the anxious excitement out of her voice.

Mr. Fawley glanced up at her briefly before returning to his paperwork. "We do."

Adelaide nodded as she flipped the pages of her book. "Is it on a wall like theirs?"

"It is not." he said pursing his lips. "Ours is in a book."

"Can I see it?" she asked with an excited smile.

"No." he said sternly looking up at her properly at last. "Now, no more talking until you finish your assignment."

"Y-yes, sir." she said, head instantly returning to her book. Adelaide knew from his tone of voice that now was not the time to defy him, so she tried to race through her assignment as quickly as possible.

After half an hour of her quill scratching away about Goblin Rebellions, Mrs. Orpington the secretary knocked as she entered into the office. "Sir, the lad from the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office is here to see you."

Filip looked a little confused. "The misuse of—?"

"Muggle artifacts, sir. It's where the old storage room used to be..."

"Oh, yes. Yes, send him in." he said waving a hand.

Adelaide looked up, uncertain if she was supposed to leave or not, but thought it better to stay put until he said otherwise.

A tall thin man in his early twenties, with ginger hair and glasses, walked in wearing green robes and a wide smile. "Hello sir, Arthur Weasley!" he greeted reaching out to shake her father's hand.

Filip was just as serious and stoic as ever. "Filip Fawley, and this is my daughter Adelaide." he said, gesturing to the light blonde girl in the corner who was now smiling wide at the thought of this ginger being related to her favorite childhood nanny.

Arthur smiled back and gave her a small nod. "Very nice to meet you both." he said kindly. "I really do appreciate your time, and I promise not to take up too much of it." he said to her father.

Filip nodded as he leaned back in his chair. "You have my full attention."

Arthur then went on about some issue they'd had of late with people muggle-baiting using jinxed record players. "—we've had muggles running around singing some song called, 'Tiny Dancer' and dancing uncontrollably, others swearing that the records shrunk of their own accord, and one particularly awful case that hit Lucius Malfoy by accident, leaving him rolling on the floor singing a muggle tune called 'Rocket Man' for nearly half an hour—"

The whole issue seemed a little silly to Adelaide, more like a few pranks gone a bit too far, but her father listened and seemed to take the young man's words quite seriously. "I appreciate the work you've done on this matter Mr. Weasley, and will see to it that we send a team of law enforcement squad members out once you've located the culprits."

"Thank you, sir!" Arthur smiled, shaking her father's hand once again before making his way out of the office.

A few minutes after he left, Adelaide took her chances by speaking once more. "That seemed a little silly—all that record player hoopla..." she said softly with a small chuckle.

"It _was_ a bit silly..." Filip said with the slightest hint of a smile.

"So why did you say you would help him?" she asked, genuinely curious. If there was anything her parents cared less about, it was the well being of muggles. "I mean, you didn't act like you thought it was silly at all..."

Filip looked very thoughtful as he carefully planned out his words. "Because being disrespectful is not a quality I wish to possess." he said honestly.

Something about his words struck a chord with Adelaide. "But what if someone doesn't deserve your respect?"

"It's difficult to get anywhere in life when you've burned all of your bridges." he said with a look of remembrance in his cool blue eyes. "That's something my mother used to say."

Adelaide had never actually heard him speak of his mother before... and her curiosity was getting the best of her. "What was she like? Your mother..."

Filip leaned back in his chair putting his hands together into a steeple. "She was quiet, but wise. My father used to tease her, saying she was a Ravenclaw at heart." he said with yet another almost smile.

The image of a kind older woman sitting by a fire, speaking wise words of advice with a book in her hands to a smaller version of her father stirred in Adelaide's imagination. Then the chilling feeling of sadness washed over her as she realized that would never be her own reality. She would never know the nurturing love of her own mother, no matter how much she longed for it.

"What was my mother like when she was younger?" Adelaide asked without thinking.

Filip studied his daughter very carefully, then gave a sad sort of smile. "She was a lot like you." he said softly. "Strong willed, excellent flier, loved animals..."

Adelaide scoffed. "She's never struck me as an animal lover... Though, she might like Berwin if he were a _stuffed_ animal."

Filip smirked. "Owls were never one of her favorites. She had a particularly nasty one growing up that her brother used to terrorize her with, ruined things for the lot of them unfortunately." he chuckled, then sighed sadly. "As for the rest of them... she— well people change."

Adelaide was a little confused by his choice of words. "Was she different? When she was younger, that is."

"Very much so." he said even sadder still. "You know, when you were little she used to sing you to sleep every night... couldn't bear to hear you cry."

No, this was definitely something she did not know... It didn't seem remotely like something her mother would do. "Are-are you sure?" she squeaked.

"Yes. If she didn't sing Wild Mountain Thyme to you every night, you would wail until sun up." he chuckled.

Adelaide found it nearly impossible to imagine such a scene as the one he described, but then again, she also found it impossible to imagine her life with a brother. "What happened? What made her change?"

Filip frowned and closed his eyes tightly, trying to dispel the heart wrenching memories. "Something horrible..."

Every bone in Adelaide's body screamed for her to say something, to tell him she knew, to just get it all out in the open. But her old friend fear latched itself around her vocal cords, keeping her quiet; squandering the small bit of nerve she possessed.

"Have you finished your essay?" he asked.

"Nearly," she forced out.

"Best get back to it," he said, eyes returning to his work.

And just like that, yet another golden opportunity slipped through her fingers like sand. Adelaide silently cursed herself for being such a coward, more specifically for being the most pathetic excuse for a Gryffindor in all of history.

After an hour and a half of silent self loathing and essay writing, a round man with a large blonde mustache and a face that seemed incapable of smiling came bursting into her father's office without warning, making Adelaide jump in surprise, nearly toppling her ink.

"They've gone after the McKinnons again, sir."

Adelaide felt the breath leave her lungs and her heart sink.

"Any casualties?" Her father said, standing from his seat.

"Their boy was hit with a nasty curse, but should pull through. But Moody's in critical condition. Healers say he may lose an eye." the man informed him.

Surely they didn't mean Alastor Moody, Adelaide thought. He had just helped her with her paper a couple of hours ago...

Her father cursed under his breath. "And the unspeakable?"

"He wasn't home when it happened... he was at Diagon Alley with his daughter—"

"Marlene..." Adelaide murmured with glassy eyes.

The man spared her a look of confusion, probably wondering what she was doing there, but then continued. "We've had Auror teams taking shifts to keep watch over the family ever since the first attempt in '71. Diggory believes there's been a leak in intelligence."

"Move them to the safe house for now, and only choose those you trust to come with you." her father said to the man who gave a curt nod, leaving as quickly as he arrived.

Several tense minutes ticked by. "Is Marlene going to be okay?" Adelaide asked. "Who was trying to hurt them?"

"I can't answer those questions, Adelaide." her father said softly.

Adelaide suddenly remembered Marlene's boggart: the Death Eater.

"It was a Death Eater, wasn't it?!"

Her father didn't answer, but she knew from his eyes that she was right.

"You're going to get them, right? Put them away in Azkaban?"

Her father looked up to her delicate and pleading face of innocence, trying to hide the guilt gnawing within him. "Yes." he lied.


	70. Chapter 70-Year 4

**Chapter 70- The Fourth September 1st**

The week leading up to Adelaide's fourth year back to school was fraught with anxiety.

She learned that Mr. Moody did in fact lose his eye after the Auror's battle with a Death Eater at the McKinnon household, but received a new magical eye from The Department of Mysteries to replace it. Adelaide begged her father for information, for any assurance that her feisty friend Marlene was okay, but all her father would tell her was that he couldn't tell her anything, which Adelaide found highly irksome. On top of all this, the only lead she'd made in regards to learning about her brother, was that there was a book with the Fawley family tree laying about who knows where.

The only thing that Adelaide had to look forward to was seeing her friends at last... to seeing Sirius.

As much as she was sure that he fancied her, Adelaide couldn't help but overthink the whole situation. Ever since the gala, she had waffled back and forth between embracing her feelings and trying to will them into nonexistence.

On one hand she was thrilled. He fancied her! Her crush was reciprocated and she felt like she could float away in happiness on that thought alone. But on the other hand. He was her best friend. And not _just_ her best friend, but her very bestest best friend. What if their feelings ruined that friendship? Adelaide honestly didn't see how either one of them would be able to cope.

So, with all this in mind, Adelaide stepped through the barrier to Platform 9 and 3/4 on September first with uncertainty on what the train ride back to school would hold… or that she would make it there at all. You see, Adelaide, despite all her planning and preparing, was running late.

 _Very_ late.

At 10:58am she ran towards the train, abandoning her parents with hardly a wave as she fought through the crowd of families giving their tear-filled goodbyes, waving to their children already aboard.

"Excuse me— pardon me—" she said as she bumped into countless people, dragging her trunk with one hand and holding Berwin's empty cage in the other.

Finally, she heard the engine begin to chug and began to expel a steady stream of curse words for the big red train, within full range of a few innocent first years waving out of a nearby window (their mother looked scandalized).

"Oh hello Addy! Running a little late I see!" Adelaide heard Regulus say. She glanced up mid-jog to see him leaned against the entrance, looking smug as ever.

"Help— me— dammit!" she wheezed, out of breath as she tried to make it to the now moving train entrance.

"But exercise is so very important—"

 _"REGGIE!"_

Regulus laughed then pulled out his wand, levitating her belongings onto the train before reaching out his hand and pulling Adelaide aboard with a big tug.

As soon as she regained her footing, she swatted the tall nearly fourteen year old boy. "Hey! Stop it! At least I helped you!"

Adelaide narrowed her eyes at him. "You were a total prat about it."

Regulus looked unfazed. "Come on, your hoard of mischief makers have been worried sick." he said rolling his eyes.

As the two made their way down the train toward where the Marauder's were seated, Adelaide caught the eye of a honey blonde speaking with a Hufflepuff she knew as Amos Diggory (son of Malachi Diggory, Head of the Auror Department).

"Marlene!" Adelaide yelled, throwing the empty bird cage she was holding into Regulus's hands and running at the girl at full speed, enveloping her in a large embrace. "Marlene I've been so worried!"

Marlene gave her a pat on the back, feeling highly uncomfortable with the whole interaction (she really wasn't a hugger). "Um... Why?"

Adelaide let go, looking at her in confusion. "I-I heard what happened... with your brother... and—"

"Oh, _that_." she replied.

"Are you okay!? What about your family?! I heard you had to move!"

"Ads, everyone is okay, but I really can't talk about it right now." she said in a low voice, glancing at the young man beside her.

Adelaide looked back with wide eyes. "Oh. Right. Um... well I'll just um... leave you to it then..." she said, backing out of the compartment awkwardly, excusing herself from the conversation.

"See you later, Addy!" Marlene called out behind her with a wave.

"You're so awkward." Regulus chuckled as they continued on their way.

"Have a little respect for your elders, will you?" she grumbled.

"Addy. You are less than a month older than me. That hardly constitutes as an 'elder'."

Adelaide let out a sigh of annoyance. "I'm still older."

"Barely." he smirked.

"You are very annoying, you do realize that right?" she huffed.

Regulus shrugged. "I'm only annoying because I'm right about everything."

"And so very humble." she scoffed.

Regulus gave her a smug smile. "Hey, isn't that Remus?"

Adelaide's eyes followed his to see a very tall, sandy haired boy thinking very hard about what chocolate he was going to buy from the trolley.

"MOONY!" she squealed, shoving the bird cage into Regulus's hands once again and running full force toward her favorite werewolf.

"Oomf... Hey Addy." Remus chuckled as she clung onto him.

Adelaide hung on for a while, making up for lost time, then finally let him free. "Tisk, tisk. You are too tall. Entirely too tall. It will not do." she said, looking up at the tall boy with her hands on her hips. "I grew over the summer, but you probably can't even tell."

"Just as dramatic as ever I see... Hey Reg!" he called to the black haired boy struggling to hold her things. "The others are just down there... Better hurry and catch up with them, James was rounding up a search party last I saw."

"Oh merlin, alright... well good luck with your chocolate!" she said with a smirk, continuing on her way.

"Hey Ads, I think it's better if I head off..." Regulus said as they got closer to their destination. Adelaide looked up him in confusion. "Sirius and I got in a bit of a row earlier and... well... I think it's just better for everyone if we keep our distance for now."

"Oh. Okay... well is everything okay between you two?" she asked worriedly.

"Yeah, we're fine, just need some time to cool off, you know?"

"Yeah, I get it... well thanks for helping me out, Reggie. " she said gratefully, reaching up to muss up his hair. "I would have preferred that you were less of a git about it, but beggars can't be choosers I suppose." she shrugged as he laughed, trying to pat his hair back down.

"I'll see you around Ads!" he said with a wave as he made his way to sit with his Slytherin friends.

Adelaide was curious as to what could have happened between the two, but was much more concerned with trying to find her friends at the present moment.

Adelaide walked a little further toward the compartment to see James standing taller than she had last seen, and hair looking more distraught as ever as he talked with an annoyed Lily Evans and slightly amused Mary McDonald. "You haven't seen her at all!? What if she didn't make it onto the train?!" he exclaimed.

"Well, she definitely made it onto the train." Peter commented, smiling at Adelaide as she quietly walked up behind them.

"NO PETER! SHE'S PROBABLY STILL STUCK IN THAT HELL HOLE! WE HAVE TO SAVE HER!"

Adelaide smirked then attacked James with a hug when he wasn't looking. "Hi Prongsy! Love you too!" she said as he spun her around.

"ADDY!" he cheered. "Where the hell were you?! I was worried sick!" he said exasperatedly as he finally put her down.

"I was late." she shrugged, moving to hug Lily and Mary.

"You got taller!" Lily commented. "About time..." she laughed.

"Yeah..." Adelaide said shyly, running her hands through her pale blonde hair. The girls chatted and caught up while James stared at Lily for a few minutes, then they all ended up wandering off to their seats. Remus returned around this time and helped Adelaide with her trunk and offered her some of his chocolate (which she of course accepted). In all the hubbub of seeing her friends and catching up after so long, it took her until this point to finally realize that there was someone missing.

"Hey, where's Sirius?" she asked from her seat within the compartment.

Peter looked around in confusion. "He was here earlier..."

Remus looked unfazed. "The mutt's probably still roaming around trying to sniff out where you've gone to." he said through a mouthful of candy.

James, however, looked highly uncomfortable.

"Prongsy... where is he?" she asked slowly.

"He um... well he's a little busy at the moment." James said awkwardly. "You know what, I think I'm going to go check on him... carry on with your frivolity!" James said, slipping out of the compartment.

Adelaide knew something fishy was going on and followed him out, grabbing his arm before he could get too far away. "James Fleamont Potter, you tell me what's going on right this second or I swear to Godric Gryffindor I will hex your head into a tentacle then throw you into the black lake to be with your squidy brethren." she growled.

James gulped. "Um...I can't."

"Can't or won't?" She asked through her teeth, effectively intimidating the boy a good head taller than her.

" _CAN'T_! I solemnly swore!" James yelped. "Just go back to the compartment and let me deal with it..."

"Deal with what?!" she exclaimed, arms flailing around wildly whacking someone in the face behind her. "Sorry." She muttered quickly, scooting forward slightly to let the person pass through, then returning her attention to James, who was now smirking. "Wipe that stupid smirk off your face Potter! I'm not in the mood!"

"Addykins, you seem chipper..." said the person whom she had previously whacked in the face.

She spun around to see Sirius smirking down at her.

"Sirius! Where have you been!?" she asked grumpily with her hands on her hips, completely forgetting that she fancied him. James took this opportunity to make his escape. "Don't think I'm done with you Squid boy!" Adelaide called out as he ran down the hall, nearly tripping in his haste.

"Squid boy?" Sirius asked.

"Long story." She said impatiently. "Where have you been?!"

Sirius let out an melodramatic sigh of exasperation. "I wait forever on the platform, then look up and down this bloody train just to give you flowers, and what do I get? You whacking me in the face and yelling at me. I'm much too spoiled for this kind of treatment, Fawley." he said, eyes soft as he joked.

A faint blush bloomed across Adelaide's cheeks as she quickly reached up to hug him around the neck, missing how safe she felt wrapped up in his arms, breathing in the smell of clean laundry, leather...and something new she couldn't quite place. She let go and saw him giving her a goofy smile.

"Wait, did you say you got me flowers?" She asked in a softer voice.

Sirius grinned then pulled out a slightly crumpled bundle of purple flowers from his back pocket and handed them to her. "Do you um... do you like them?" he asked awkwardly, ruffling the back of his hair in a very James-Potter-like way.

"Love them." Adelaide beamed. "But why was James acting so shifty?"

"Oh. I wanted the flowers to be a surprise..." he said unconvincingly. Adelaide raised an eyebrow. "I didn't want the others to know I got them for you." he answered truthfully. "I didn't get any for Pete or Rem, and didn't want them to get jealous or something." he shrugged, trying to not smile.

"Yeah, Wormy would have been heartbroken." Adelaide nodded, noticing that it still seemed like there was more to the story. Her eyes looked from his face, back down to the flowers, but ultimately landing on his hands. "What the hell happened to your knuckles?!" she asked, stuffing the flowers into her pocket and taking his hands in her own.

They were red and well on their way toward bruising.

"Um… yeah… about that…" he said awkwardly… not answering her question.

Adelaide looked him dead in the eyes, unnerving him as she did so. He had a very hard time lying to her in general, but an even harder time when she looked at him the way she was.

"Sirius, tell me what happened." she said calmly, hands still in his.

Sirius blinked several times. "I-I um… erm… punched Avery... in the face…"

"YOU WHAT?!"

"He hurt you Addy! I couldn't let him get away with it!"

"SO YOU JUST WALKED UP AND PUNCHED HIM?!" she exclaimed incredulously, throwing her hands in the air.

"No! Of course not! I walked up and yelled at him to keep his filthy hands off of you." he said, as if this was any better. "But then he kept running his mouth and well… I thought it might be more of an insult to handle things the muggle way." he shrugged.

Adelaide ran her hands over her face in exasperation. 'Mary was right, boys are so stupid,' she thought to herself. "Sirius, I can handle Avery on my own."

"But he hurt you, Addy!"

Adelaide could tell she was going to get no where in this conversation. "Whatever, let's just go back with the others before James starts another search party." she sighed.

As they made the short walk back, Adelaide was suddenly highly aware of Sirius's presence… and suddenly feeling very shy as she thought back to the last time they were together. It was almost a good thing that they walked in awkward silence, she was blushing just being next to him, she couldn't imagine what would happen if he actually said anything to her.

"You found him!" Peter cheered as they entered the compartment.

Adelaide let out a breathy chuckle. "Yep." she said in a voice that didn't really sound like her own.

She sat down beside Remus, next to the window, hoping that some space between her and the source of her awkwardness would help the situation… but to her horror, Remus scooted over so that Sirius could sit between them.

"Hey Addy, are you okay?" James asked, momentarily forgetting that he had been worried about his head being hexed into a tentacle.

"No." Sirius answered for her.

Adelaide's heart began to beat harder and she was feeling slightly dizzy. Surely, even if he knew the reason why she was being so weird, he wouldn't just tell everyone, right? She hadn't even considered how weird it would make things between the guys.

James looked quizzically between Sirius and Adelaide.

"I punched Avery." Sirius said guiltily.

"WHAT?!" James exclaimed. "THAT WAS NOT PART OF THE PLAN! I mean he deserved it. BUT THAT WAS NOT PART OF THE PLAN, PADFOOT!"

"I feel like I'm missing something." Remus said, noticing that Adelaide looked relieved for some reason. He suspected this was only part of what was bothering her.

"We went to this Gala thing a few weeks back and that slimy scummy snake harassed her—"

"—I was fine—"

"— No, she wasn't. She had a gigantic bruise from where he grabbed her arm."

Remus was angry now. "Well now I want to punch him too!"

Peter looked just as upset, quietly fuming in the corner.

"Moony! I thought you would be on my side in all of this!" Adelaide exclaimed incredulously.

"Sorry Addy. I have zero tolerance for any guy who thinks it's okay to hurt a girl."

"But it's okay if a guy hurts another guy?"

The boys all shrugged. "More or less."

Adelaide was appalled. "You know what, I think maybe I should go sit with the girls for a bit." she said, standing up from her seat.

Sirius instantly reached for her hand, causing butterflies to flutter in her stomach. "Addykins, don't go." he said in a soft pleading voice. Adelaide looked down to him, getting lost in his eyes for a moment. "I'm really sorry I punched him Ads. Well… not that sorry… but I'm sorry it upset you."

Adelaide continued to stare at him, mind going fuzzy, much like his.

James cleared his throat and both were pulled out of their thoughts, but still clutching each other's hands. "Um… so Addy… are you going to go or…?"

"What?" she asked, looking a little dazed.

"You said you were going to go sit with the girls." Peter said slowly.

Adelaide blinked. "Um… y-yeah… I think- I think I am… Um…" she stammered, looking down to her hand in Sirius's and ripping it away. "See you later." she said, running out of the compartment.

The boys all watched her leave with confusion.

"What the hell just happened?" Remus asked, looking to Sirius.

Sirius spared a quick glance at James. "I dunno."

* * *

Adelaide ran all the way out of the compartment to where Mary, Lily, Marlene, and Severus were sitting. She internally groaned at the fact that Snivellus was in attendance, but refused to let it deter her as she burst in without warning.

"Gulpin' Gargoyles!" Mary exclaimed.

"Help—me—" Adelaide said miserably, out of breath.

"Help you? With what?!"

Adelaide looked at the other passengers, before answering. "Sirius." she said simply, breath still ragged from her sprint.

Mary's eyes went wide. "Oh. That." she said quietly. "Um… I'll be right back! Don't eat any of my pumpkin pasties." she said giving a narrow eyed look at Lily Evans.

"I don't know why you're looking at me, Marlene is the one who always eats them." Lily said.

Mary's glare moved toward the blonde girl eyeing her treats greedily.

"MARY! NEED YOU! NOW!" Adelaide all but shouted, grabbing her friend's hand and pulling her out of the compartment.

"Oh, right!"

Adelaide pulled her toward a miraculously empty compartment, slammed the door shut, closed the blinds, and cast a muffling charm around them.

"What in the world—"

"He fancies me." Adelaide said quickly. "And he kissed me at the party—"

"HE WHAT?!"

"On the cheek… But he almost actually kissed me in a bathroom."

"In a bathroom?! How romantic…" Mary smirked.

"Shut up and help me!" Adelaide said desperately.

"Here's what you are going to do," began Mary as Adelaide listened intently. "You are going to go back to the boys compartment, bring him in here, then snog the living daylights out of him." Mary said with a smirk.

Adelaide nearly fainted at the thought. "PLEASE BE SERIOUS!"

"I can't be Sirius. I am neither a boy, nor do I desire to snog you— no offense."

"MARY!"

"Good Merlin. Just go tell him you fancy him!" Mary said genuinely.

"Can't do that."

Mary looked puzzled. "Why not? I thought that this was what you wanted?"

"He's my- my best friend! How would- how would I— I'm going to be engaged!"

"Yeah… and probably to him! This really seems like a win-win situation if you ask me."

"MARY I CAN'T TELL HIM!"

Mary could tell that Adelaide's mind was not going to be changed by anything else she said, so she decided to humor her ridiculousness. "Fine. Don't tell him." she sighed. "James is going to be so sad if he ever finds out about this…" she murmured under her breath.

"What?" Adelaide asked, not understanding what she said.

"Oh nothing." Mary said with a smirk. "So, now that we've established that you are taking the stupid route with all of this, can I go back and eat my food?"

"NO! I STILL NEED HELP!" Adelaide screeched, well past frazzled. "I-I can't be around him… but I want to be… but then he looks at me and I can't think… and the other's are going to notice— I bet Remy already has… UGH! What am I going to do!?"

"First, breathe." Mary said soothingly. Adelaide took a deep breath. "Now, repeat after me." Adelaide nodded. "I, Adelaide Fawley—"

"I, Adelaide Fawley—"

"Am going to snog Sirius Black—"

"MARY!" Adelaide screamed. "NOT HELPFUL!"

"Listen, you like him, he likes you. Please just put everyone out of our misery and at least tell him. If you two want to 'just be friends' or something equally ridiculous, be my guest. But, that is really something you should decide together." Mary said, giving Adelaide a little pat on the knee.

"But if I tell him… that- that I-I..."

"That you fancy him," Mary finished for her.

"Yeah… that… it would just… make everything a bazillion times more awkward than they already are!" Adelaide said pitifully.

Mary let out a loud sigh of resignation. "So, what is it you are really wanting Ads?"

"I want— I-I want…"

What did she want? She wanted Sirius. She wanted to be his best friend and his girlfriend, without having to worry about one getting in the way of the other. She wanted to not be engaged, or have to worry about what it would do to her friendship with the other boys. But those were all things she really couldn't have.

"I don't know." she said in a small voice.

Mary nodded slowly giving her a sad smile. "Well, I think you need to figure that out." she said before making her way out of the compartment, leaving Adelaide alone to sort out her feelings.

Adelaide was so deep in thought that she hardly noticed Mary leave.

* * *

For an hour after Adelaide left, Sirius was a wreck.

"Do you think she's going to come back?" he asked James.

James shrugged, too highly invested in his quidditch magazine to give a real answer.

"Maybe I should go find her… tell her I'm sorry again or something…" he said to no one in particular.

Remus gave him a curious look. "Perhaps you should."

Sirius nodded to himself as he stood up. "Yeah. I'm-I'm going to go find her." he said to himself, walking purposefully out of the compartment.

Once he was gone, Remus looked up at James. "He fancies her, doesn't he?"

"Duh." James said casually, still flipping through his magazine whilst Peter snored beside him.

Remus nodded, completely unfazed. "Cool."

* * *

Sirius looked a bit like a child who lost his mother at the store, looking in every compartment for the Adelaide and the other Gryffindor fourth year girls, before finally stumbling upon a compartment that held all the girls but Adelaide.

Marlene smirked, then held out her hand for Mary to begrudgingly give her five sickles. "Told you. Less than two hours and he's already a total mess." she whispered.

"You just got lucky…" Mary grumbled.

Sirius opened the compartment door and instantly frowned, sparing a glare at the greasy haired boy sitting beside Lily, before turning his attention to Mary. "Where's Addy?"

"I thought she would go back to sit with you all…" Mary trailed off.

"No, she didn't." Sirius said quickly. "Do you know where she is?" he asked, trying to keep the panic from his voice.

"She's probably still down the hall… thinking."

" _Thinking_? Thinking about what?" he asked, completely befuddled.

Marlene smirked. "I think that's something you should ask her yourself." she said knowingly.

Sirius let out a loud groan of annoyance for Marlene's cryptic ways, then stormed out of the compartment.

Once he was gone, Lily leaned over to whisper to Mary. "She fancies him, doesn't she?"

"Duh." Marlene answered for her.

* * *

Sirius continued his search down the hallway, until he came across a compartment with all the blinds closed. Hesitantly, he knocked, only to hear a familiar voice groan and say, "Go away."

He smirked slightly, then opened the compartment door slowly, to see a girl laying down across the seats, face hidden by a mass of light blonde hair.

"I said, go away." she groaned, without looking up.

"Come to take a nap?" Sirius asked, clearly amused.

Adelaide tensed, but stayed frozen in place, sincerely wishing she was actually asleep.

Sirius made his way inside, shutting the door behind him and sitting on the seat across from her. "Addy… I'm really sorry about punching Avery."

Adelaide moved a bit of her hair from her face so that she could see him better. "I'm not upset about that… Not anymore at least." she mumbled.

Sirius furrowed his brows. If she wasn't upset about that, why was she acting so weird? "Are you okay?"

"Yes." she said quickly. Just by her voice, Sirius instantly knew that she was not.

"Marlene said you were in here thinking… what were you thinking about?" he asked.

Adelaide moved the hair back over her face, but didn't answer. She couldn't lie to him, he would see right through her, but she definitely couldn't tell him the truth.

Sirius knelt down on the compartment floor, then gently moved the hair from her face so he could see her properly. "What were you thinking about Ads?"

"I-I— I can't— I need you to stop looking at me like that." she said blinking profusely.

"Like what?"

"Like you— uh… um…"

"Addy, did I do something to upset you?"

"Well… not really…" she answered.

Sirius nodded slowly. He definitely did something wrong. "Can you please just sit up and talk to me?" he asked kindly.

"I— well… I suppose…" she muttered as she sat up in the seat.

"Now, please tell me what the hell is going on with you."

"Noth-nothing is going on…" she said unconvincingly.

Sirius moved closer to her. "Liar." he smirked.

"Can you please not get so close." she said quickly, looking down to their now touching knees. Truth be told, she didn't mind him being so close, but she was having a very hard time thinking clearly.

Hurt radiated off of Sirius as he scooted away… than embarrassment. "This-this is about the gala, isn't it…" he said, clearly crest fallen. Adelaide didn't answer. "It is… Merlin… Addy I'm so sorry, I-I shouldn't have— I didn't mean to—I thought you-I thought you were okay with it— I'm so sorry—"

Adelaide watched him ramble on and on, grappling for words, trying to apologize for the only thing that made her summer bearable. Truthfully, she found him quite adorable when he was this awkward and frazzled. Usually, he acted as if nothing bothered him, as if he was invincible, but at this particular moment, he was so vulnerable, so deeply stricken that his true emotions were written all over his face.

"Please stop." she said quietly with a smile.

Sirius was completely confused. Now she wasn't upset? Why was she smiling? Why were girls so weird?

"Addy… I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have— I shouldn't have put you in that position…"

"I said stop." she smiled, putting her finger over his lips so as to shush him.

"I'm confused." he mumbled, her finger still on his lips and driving him _insane_.

Adelaide moved her hand back to her lap. "I promise, I'm not upset about what happened at the gala… I just needed some time to think."

"Oh." he answered, still thoroughly confused. "And you're sure you're not upset?"

Adealide leaned over to give him a peck on the cheek, causing his face to turn a bright shade of red. "Positive." she said sweetly. "Actually, I think I'm ready to go back and sit with the guys now." she said softly.

"Uh… um… o-okay…" Sirius stammered, not really believing what just happened.

* * *

The train ride back was still a little awkward, but mostly on Sirius's part this time. After the feast, Adelaide found herself walking alongside Remus, as Sirius and the others raced ahead.

"Do you want to explain why you and Sirius are being so weird?" Remus asked casually.

"Not really." she replied quietly.

Remus nodded. "You know he fancies you, right?"

"I'm well aware."

Remus smirked. "About bloody time…"


	71. Chapter 71

**Chapter 71- I Have a Confession to Make**

One slightly cloudy night, three weeks into the Marauder's fourth school year, a black dog ran, big heavy paws pounding upon the forest floor, path only illuminated by the silvery full moon hanging amongst the stars above. The night was nearly over, but the werewolf was wide awake, and particularly vicious.

The rat had been thrown against a tree, knocked unconscious early in the night; the stag was sporting some nasty scratches; the dog had managed to remain mostly unscathed apart from a large gash along his torso; and the cat? Well, the cat was running full speed on her three good legs just to keep up with the two canines and stag.

The scent of something human, _someone_ human, invaded their senses... _again._ It had been happening all night. When the Marauders agreed to spend their moonlit night in the woods, they didn't realize that there would be a butter-beer festival in Hogsmead. All night long they tried to lead their bloodthirsty best friend away from the innocent villagers at the edge of the woods, and so far they were successful.

Suddenly the wolf, whom the animals had been chasing, swerved abruptly toward the edge of the forest, lips curled, teeth bared, growling lowly as it stalked its prey. The stag instantly turned on a dime running perpendicular, slamming the wolf into a large tree, trapping it within its antlers.

This only upset the wolf who snarled and bit wildly into the air, aiming for nothing in particular, but teeth ultimately sinking into the stag's chest. The deer made a loud, guttural sound of pain, staggering away from the deranged beast and collapsing against a large exposed tree root.

The white cat rushed towards the stag, trying to see if she could help him, but he made it very clear that he was fine, and that she and the dog needed to control the wolf.

So, she turned abruptly and ran towards the wolf, catching the horribly pungent scent of fire whisky and sweat in the process, then running ever faster.

"Oi! Larry" Slurred a stumbling man only meters away. "Look 's a cat!" he said in his garbled speech, pointing toward the fluffy bright white cat sprinting toward the wolf (eventually jumping onto its back causing it to whimper slightly).

"Wha' are yeh doin' lookin' at cats fer, Bob? 'S Late, we needa be headin' out!" his friend said in a slightly less slurred voice.

As the two tipsy fellows started to stumble away, the wolf, currently ignoring the needle like claws and teeth digging into its neck and back, began to steady itself for a surprise attack.

Seemingly out of nowhere, the dog slammed into the sandy colored werewolf, pinning him against another tree, large jaws securely clamped down on the werewolf's back leg.

The wolf flailed and kicked repeatedly, but the dog wouldn't let go. After 30 seconds of the dog hanging on desperately, being beaten around like a flag in the wind, a bright flash of white fur reflecting in the moonlight obscured the wolf's vision as it latched itself onto his face, growling and hissing as she did so.

Now blinded by a cat clinging painfully to its face, the wolf flailed even more, but was thankfully immobilized for the time being. Two large paws reached up and yanked the cat from its face, sending her tumbling down to the ground with force. She staggered, meeting eyes with the weary grey eyes of the still struggling black dog.

They couldn't hold Moony for much longer, but if they didn't a whole village of people would be massacred. For a moment, Tufts panicked. She had to save the people. She had to save Padfoot, who looked like he was one good thrashing away from passing out. So, with a lift of her paw, and all the focus, energy, and will she possessed, she pointed toward the wolf and thought the word 'Stupefy'.

Nothing happened.

Now she was panicking more than ever. Her wandless magic had failed her.

Without another thought she ran for the the rear leg not currently gripped in the black dog's jaw, and bit down, clinging on for dear life. For the dear lives of her friends and the innocent festival goers.

The wolf whimpered, and dragged the two animals back toward the school. Neither the cat, nor the dog was about to let him run loose until they were absolutely certain 'Loony Moony,' as they referred to the wolf within, was gone.

Once back onto the grounds, the wolf regained some of his human spirit and ran toward the shrieking shack the moment his friends released their hold.

* * *

Adelaide came limping into the Gryffindor common room, soon followed by James, Sirius, and a clearly concussed Peter in the wee hours of the morning. Remus had stayed in the shrieking shack, soon to be taken care of by Madam Pomfrey who was coming to collect him.

None of the other Marauder's had paid much attention to the wounds inflicted upon them as they made their hasty, and clumsy return to Gryffindor Tower under the invisibility cloak. But as they each slumped into the squashy chairs by the dying fire, they were all too aware.

James's chest was oozing with blood from bite marks and deep scratches, which Peter was trying his hardest to heal with shaking hands. Adelaide was sporting a busted lip, multiple scratches, a broken arm, probably a few cracked ribs, and bruises from head to toe. Sirius too was bruised on nearly every part of himself, probably possessing a long list of broken bones, and bleeding from a deep claw mark down his torso.

"AARRGG! Addy that hurts!" Sirius said through his teeth, eyes shut tightly as she applied a small amount of potion to the deep laceration, not even caring that he was now shirtless. Greenish smoke billowed upward.

"Shhh... I know... It'll feel better in a second." she hushed, trying to ignore the now throbbing pain emanating from her arm.

"Addy, let me help you." Sirius protested, still wincing in pain as she kept applying the smoking potion. He actually had become quite proficient in healing spells over the past year.

"Please just stay still so I can stop the bleeding." she said in a tired, desperate voice, in no mood to deal with his heroic tendencies. She continued to apply the dittany, greenish smoke continuing to expel from the wound, but as it cleared Sirius could see that his wound now looked several days old, new flesh stretched across where the deep bleeding gash had once been.

"Better?" Adelaide asked.

Sirius looked at her in pure wonder. "Loads."

Adelaide gave him a small smile but then clenched her eyes closed and sat back in the couch, deep in pain.

"A-Addy! What-what's wrong?" he asked, trying to figure out a way to help her.

"I'm—fine—help—Prongs." she forced out, shoving the bottle of dittany into his hands.

"I-but I don't know how to—"

"HELP—PRONGS!"

Sirius moved toward James and began to apply the dittany to his chest just as Adelaide had done for him.

"Merlin's balls that burns!" James hissed. "Good Merlin..."

"Oh my God..." said a voice from the stairs.

All four of the wounded looked up to see Lily Evans standing with her hands over her mouth as she stared at the gory scene before her.

"Lily... we need to get up to the boys dorm." James said breathlessly through the green smoke emanating from his various wounds as his skin stitched itself back together.

"NO! You need to go to the hospital wing!"

"No! We can't tell Poppy! She'll figure it out for sure!" Sirius bit back.

"You all are in worse shape than I've ever seen, I really don't know how I'm going to help you this time..." Lily said in an apologetic tone.

Ever since they began helping Remus, Lily had stepped in to do her best in patching them up afterwards, but this was well beyond a few cuts and scrapes. They could have serious internal injuries...

"No Lily! We can't!" Adelaide said desperately. "Azkaban!" she forced out, beginning to be overcome by the now throbbing pain all around her.

"I'll figure out an excuse! But we need to get you there NOW!" she said sternly.

"Take us up to the dorms, try to patch us up as much as you can before... please Lily." James said.

Lily studied him for several long moments. "Fine, but if I tell you to go to the hospital wing after, you need to listen to me."

"I always listen to you." James said, giving her a goofy grin.

"Not the time Prongs." Sirius muttered.

* * *

Lily helped each of the four up to the boys dorm, placing Adelaide in Remus's bed, beside Sirius's.

The other boys bleeding had been stopped by Adelaide's quick thinking, but she hadn't been able to fix up herself.

Lily quickly grabbed the dittany and rushed toward her, sitting upon the bed and closing the hangings so that the boys couldn't see as she removed her shirt to attend to the litany of scratches, scrapes, and bites.

One by one, Lily patched up the four pitifully broken Marauders as the sun began to rise, until at last they were all stable.

"I think you should be okay for now, but I don't want any of you walking around... you need to rest. Do you understand?"

"Loud and clear Evans." Sirius said.

"Lily, can you go check on Remmy for us? Tell him we're okay? He's going to be so worried when he wakes up..." James said, hazel eyes clearly wishing he was able to be there for him instead.

"Of course." Lily said with a sad smile. James Potter may have been an annoying, immature tow-rag, but he was also a fierce friend.

"Lily..." Adelaide said softly. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." She said tenderly. "I'll be back in a little while to bring you some breakfast and check to see how you're doing. You're very lucky it's Saturday..."

"Can you get me some pancakes!?" Sirius asked with a hopeful grin.

Lily rolled her eyes. "Yes, Black. I'll get you some pancakes."

Sirius seemed quite satisfied by her response, but then he remembered something else. "Oh, erm Evans..." he said, trying to beckon her closer. "Could you get Dorris for Addy? She won't ask, but she likes having her around when she's not feeling well." He whispered. "And maybe that purple blanket too..."

Lily was genuinely taken aback by his heartfelt request. She knew that he fancied her, anyone who was around the two of them enough could tell, but she rarely saw this sweet side of him.

"Of course." Lily said with a smile, moving to head out of the dorm.

* * *

Adelaide's eyes fluttered open sometime early that evening to not the boys dorm, but the sterile and spacious hospital wing. She looked around, trying to gain her bearings as she moved as little as possible, still heavy with the overall aching emanating from every inch of her body.

As she stirred, a mass of dark brown hair obscured her line of sight, big brown eyes looking at her with a mixture of sadness and relief. "Addy? ADDY! Oh m-merlin!" cried out Mary McDonald. "Madam Pomfrey, she's up!" she called out, running away to fetch the woman.

"Hello Addykins, looking radiant as ever I see." a voice from the next bed over said weakly.

Adelaide felt relief at the first sound of Sirius's voice, but then as she saw the state he was in, bruised and battered, she felt nothing but guilt.

It had been her idea, her stupid idea to spend the night in the woods instead of the shrieking shack. Because of her, her friends and plenty of innocent people had very nearly been killed.

Tears welled in her eyes, from the soul crushing shame of it all. "I-I can't believe— I'm so sorry— I d-didn't mean to—" she said in a high voice as she became more and more emotional. "Azkaban—You could've d-died-d— m-my idea— all m-my faul-fault—" she hiccuped pathetically, not even able to wipe away the tears.

"Addy no! You didn't know!" Sirius said emphatically, looking over at her crying and hating that he couldn't be there to sooth her. "LILY!"

An Auburn haired witch sleeping in a wooden chair across the room beside a sleeping Remus was pulled from her slumber, looking around in confusion.

"I-I didn't— w-wandless m-magic— Failure!— It's all-all my f-f-fault!" Adelaide continued to sob.

"Lily! Please help Addy!" Sirius said.

Lily's bright green eyes fixed themselves on Adelaide's pitiful state, feet rushing to her side to sooth her. "Shhh... Addy, no one blames you..." she said softly, motherly. One of the things Adelaide always admired about Lily was her ability to be the most calming and soothing person at the drop of a hat. "James and Peter didn't even have to come in... the only reason you two are here is because of all the bruising—"

"And because Mary flipped out—" Sirius grumbled.

Adelaide continued to hiccup, eyes full of worry and confusion.

"Madam Pomfrey thinks you snuck into one of the Care of Magical Creatures pens." Lily said quickly, moving away as said woman came bursting into the room.

Poppy came running over to Adelaide first, helping the girl sit up, only to give her several awful tasting potions that she recognized from her other two extended stays. "Ilk... this is v-vile." Adelaide said with a grimace, chugging down the pumpkin juice after, face still stained with tears.

"Yes, well... it was very irresponsible of you all to be sneaking about..." she tutted. "But, we'll have you patched up and limping off in no time." she said shortly, moving on to administer the disgusting potion to Sirius.

Adelaide smirked as she watched Sirius's bruised, but still handsome face morph into one of disgust. "Merlin's dirty drawers, this is the most disgusting thing I've ever consumed!" he said dramatically.

"If you got into less trouble you'd be the one healing, instead of the one having to be healed Mr. Black." said Poppy, sharing an amused look with Adelaide at Sirius's offended face.

"And here I was thinking we were friends, Poppy..." Sirius grumbled.

Madam Pomfrey quickly moved on to attend to the unconscious werewolf, soon followed after by Lily.

"S-sirius I'm so-so sorry." Adelaide said soft enough for only him to hear, still hiccuping from her sobs minutes before. "It was all my fault..." she said miserably, eyes threatening to cry again.

"Addy, please stop blaming yourself. We all agreed to go out there, and we're all alive. It's going to be okay..."

"B-but Moony!" she said, dissolving into tears. "He's going to f-feel so-so guilty, and it was all because of-of me!"

Sirius really couldn't take it anymore, he had to calm her down, he couldn't let her keep beating herself up like that. So, just as Poppy left the room with Lily behind her, Sirius made an escape from his hospital bed, padding the meter and a half over to Adelaide's bed.

Adelaide looked concerned that he was out of bed, but unconsciously scooted to make room for him. So that he was sitting beside her, body facing her. He grabbed her good hand and gently rubbed soothing circles against the back. "Addy. It's okay. Don't worry about Moony, just worry about getting better so that you are in tip top shape for Quidditch trials." he joked.

Adelaide smiled despite herself. "You sound like James." she chuckled weakly.

"Actually, I was aiming to sound like Mary..."

"No, Mary is more violent." Adelaide corrected.

"Excuse me?!" said Mary showing up out of no where.

"I mean what I said." Adelaide told the girl, standing her ground.

Mary spared her a semi-annoyed look, not able to refute the fact that she did get a bit overly-enthusiastic when it came to the greatest game ever invented. "Um... Sirius... I think you're supposed to be over there..." Mary said, pointing to his empty bed.

"No, I don't think so." he said unflinchingly, turning around so that he was sitting more comfortably beside Adelaide, shoulders nearly rubbing together.

Mary rolled her eyes and gave Adelaide a pointed look that Sirius figured was because of some inside joke.

"So... can one of you please explain to me what the hell happened?" Mary asked with her hands on her hips.

Adelaide gulped. "Um... no?" she said awkwardly.

Mary looked back at her incredulously. _"No?!"_

"Not right now..." Sirius said calmly, seeing the anger flashing in Mary's brown eyes.

"You all nearly get killed, and you can't even tell me _why_?!" Mary said, becoming more and more upset.

"Mare... I would tell you but I-I I just can't..." Adelaide said in a desperate voice. There was no way she could just tell Mary that they were all Illegal Animagi trying to help their werewolf friend during his monthly transformations.

"But you'll tell Lilly?!" Mary said, clearly hurt as tears began to pool in her eyes. "I know whatever she told Pomfrey was a lie... I-I thought we- I thought we were sisters Addy Bell..."

"We are Mary! I want to tell you! I just can't!" Adelaide said emphatically.

Mary wiped away her tears with her sleeve and ran away without another word.

"Well now I've hurt another person... great." Adelaide said softly as she leaned her head against Sirius's shoulder.

"It'll be okay, love. I promise." he said, kissing the top of her head and holding her hand.

For the past three weeks Adelaide and Sirius had shared tender moments like this one. Ever since the train ride back, things had most definitely shifted in their relationship. But, neither one of them discussed this change outright, even though there were countless times when they could have.

They seemed to be living in an awkward stage of closeness just beyond mere platonic friendship. Both Sirius and Adelaide knew that it needed to be discussed, that things couldn't go on this way forever, but both were hoping the other would be the one to bring up the subject.

"Sirius... I have a confession to make." Adelaide said softly, head still rested upon his shoulder.

Sirius felt his breath hitch and his heart beat harder in his chest in anticipation of her words. "Yes?" he said, feigning casualty.

"I really like it when you call me 'love'." she mumbled.

That wasn't what he was expecting.

"You what?" he chuckled, wincing a bit as he disturbed a healing rib.

"I like it when you call me 'love.'" she said slowly, not having the courage or the strength to look up at him.

"Well I'll keep that in mind... love." he said cheekily.

"I'm too tired for you to make fun of me." she grumbled.

"I wasn't making fun of you... I thought it was cute." he said softly.

Adelaide felt her cheeks flush and squirmed a bit beside him. "So, you think I'm cute?" she said cheekily.

Sirius let out another chuckle. "What kind of question is that? Of course I do."

Adelaide smiled to herself, snuggling into his arm.

"Addy... I have a confession to make too." he said, rubbing the back of her thumb with his own, fingers still intertwined.

"Shoot," she murmured.

"I really like holding your hand." he said softly as Adelaide squeezed his hand a bit tighter.

"Even when it's all clammy?" she asked lightly, internally giddy.

Sirius let out a breathy laugh. "Even when it's clammy..."

"I'll keep that in mind..."

"Um… so Ads, I have a erm… I have a question to ask you..." Sirius said, heart beating faster.

Adelaide looked up at him briefly before returning to her comfortable position snuggled against his side. "Yes?"

"I-I um... well... I was wondering if maybe you... erm" Sirius stuttered out.

"Words Black. Words and sentences." Adelaide giggled.

"Do you want to go to Hogsmeade together?" He said in a rush.

Adelaide blinked a few times in befuddlement, moving away to look him in the eyes, finding that he seemed slightly nauseous.

"But we always go together?" she said in confusion.

"No, I mean— like just us..." he said, feeling more and more nervous by the second. He knew that she probably fancied him, but he was still scared to death she would say no.

Adelaide's heart started beating faster as she realized what he might be implying. "Like to spy on Mary and Evan?" she asked.

"Erm... like on a date." he said awkwardly.

"Y-yes." She said instantly, surprising them both. Did she really just say that?

Sirius looked back at her completely stunned for a long few moments."Wait, really?!"

"Um… well yeah…" Adelaide said with a small smile then leaning back against him, snuggling against his arm so he wouldn't see how much she was blushing beneath her healing bruises. "The boys are going to tease us though." She mumbled.

"They already tease us... or maybe they just tease me..." Sirius mumbled back. "But we don't have to tell them if you don't want to."

"Um… yeah, I think we should keep it a secret for now..." she said softly, yawning.

"Ooo a secret date... that sounds much more exciting." Sirius smirked.

"It does, doesn't it?" she said with a matching smirk.

Honestly, Adelaide didn't know what possessed her to say yes. Perhaps it was just the stupid Gryffindor making her do stupid things again, or maybe her near death experience the night before put things into perspective. Either way, she was glad she did… and so was Sirius.

* * *

A while later, Lily came back in to check on Adelaide and bring her the ink-stained purple ball of fluff, only to see her and Sirius leaned against each other on her bed, both softly snoring. She smiled to herself then placed Dorris on the night stand.


	72. Chapter 72

**Chapter 72- Challenge Accepted**

 _"...will be transforming hedgehogs into pincushions. Now the incantation is..."_

Adelaide half listened as Professor McGonagall explained the lesson for the day, doodling a cat trying to catch a bird on her parchment, when she felt someone tug on her hair.

She ignored this first offense, focusing instead on the rather adorable hedgehogs being passed out.

"Well aren't you cute... I think you would've made a very nice loafer..." she whispered to the hedgehog now smiling up at her, petting its head— _another tug_.

Swiftly, she scooted her wooden chair up closer to the desk, sparing a quick glance to the dark haired girl beside her who had been refusing to acknowledge her existence for the past week or so.

" _...firm and decisive wand movements are an especially important element in this transfor..."_

Another tug.

"Stop it!" Adelaide hissed, head whipping around and forest green eyes glaring at the curly haired boy seated behind her.

"What's wrong, love?" Sirius whispered innocently.

"Quit. Pulling. My. Hair." she growled. Sirius merely raised his eyebrows in amusement.

"Miss Fawley! Please pay attention!" Professor McGonagall said sternly.

Adelaide's head whipped back toward the Professor mumbling an apology, internally cursing the boy behind her.

Ever since they were released from the infirmary the Tuesday after the full moon, Sirius had been nothing but a pest. All day, everyday, for a week he did nothing but pull her hair, throw things at her, steal her mashed potatoes, poke, tease, and otherwise annoy her to the point that she was seriously considering canceling their stupid secret date that weekend.

The bell rang and Adelaide shoved her belongings into her bag, then stormed out of the Transfiguration classroom, wishing she could at least vent to Mary, but her sassy brunette best friend was hardly speaking to her since she refused to tell her what really happened the night she was bludgeoned by a bloodthirsty, sock ironing werewolf.

"Hello, Addykins!" Sirius smirked, stepping out from the wall where he had been lurking, jogging to catch up with her.

"Go away." she said without looking at him.

Sirius only smirked wider. "But I want to walk with you." he said in mock sadness, lopping an arm over her shoulders.

"So you can pull my hair again?" she grumbled.

"I dunno what you're talking about." he said innocently.

"I really don't like it, Sirius." she said shortly, thinking back to the countless times her mother yanked a brush through her tangled hair.

Sirius could tell this genuinely bothered her and felt guilt bubble up within him. "I'll stop." he said softly.

Adelaide shrugged his arm off of her. "You'll stop pulling my hair, or stop all the rest of it too?" she snapped.

Just by the look in his eyes she could tell he was not about to quit bugging her. "You're insufferable." she muttered venomously.

"Oh, come on, Ads! I was only kidding around—"

"For a week?! I swear you are actively trying to annoy me. I'm sick of it!" she exclaimed, storming away through the busy hallway.

Sirius jogged after her, nearly running over a few first years in the process. "Addy! Ads, come on!" he called out. "Ads, wait up!"

Adelaide slowed her steps so he could catch up with her.

"Hi Sirius..." said a voice Adelaide did not recognize, but could tell was trying very hard to get his attention.

"Um hi..." Sirius muttered awkwardly. Adelaide turned around and watched him try to side step away from a Ravenclaw girl batting her lashes up at him.

"My name's Lydia, Lydia Green." she said, tucking her red hair behind her ear, looking up at him with her bright blue eyes.

Sirius looked at her blankly. "Cool..." he said, eyes planning an escape route.

"We should... hang out some time..." the girl said sweetly. Sirius gave her a slightly puzzled look.

"Erm... right..." he said more awkwardly than before, still trying to get away, but the girl began to block his path.

"Maybe we could grab some butterbeer at Hogsmeade this weekend and you know, get to know each other better?" the girl named Lydia said lowly, hands moving to his arm.

The loathing Adelaide felt toward Sirius only minutes before, was now firmly placed on this 'Lydia Green'.

"Siri!" Adelaide squealed, running up to him, and by extension the overtly touchy Ravenclaw, with a big grin.

Confusion clouded Sirius's ruggedly handsome face watching Adelaide speak so civilly to him, shrugging off the hands of the red headed Ravenclaw giving her a tight lipped smile.

"You still walking me to class?" Adelaide asked brightly to Sirius, acting as if the girl wasn't even there.

The Ravenclaw, Lydia, cleared her throat. "We were having a conversation." she said in a sweet contrived voice

"Lovely." Adelaide said quickly to the girl before addressing Sirius again. "We're going to be late, Siri! I thought you wanted to have time to talk about what all we're going to do at Hogsmeade this weekend?"

Suddenly, Sirius realized why Adelaide was acting so strangely, and smirked. "Of course, love! Lead the way!" he said, reaching out to hold her hand, fingers intertwined. "See you around Olivia!"

"It's Lydia!" a voice called out behind them as the two Gryffindors ran away.

Once far away from Lydia, they broke out into a fit of laughter. The row they had been in earlier seemed impossibly far away.

"Thank you for saving me." Sirius said through his laughs.

"She was a stage three clinger, something had to be done." Adelaide said with mock seriousness as they walked the back way to Care of Magical Creatures.

Unconvinced, Sirius gave her a smug smile. "Mhmm... sure."

"Stop making that face!" Adelaide chuckled as she poked his cheek playfully.

"Stop being so adorably jealous." he said bumping shoulders with her.

A blush violently attacked her cheeks. "I-I was not...jealous."

Any other time that week, Sirius wouldn't have held back his teasing on such a subject, but he had a feeling she was one annoying comment away from either storming away again or hexing him... and neither one was ideal.

"Fine. Then just stop being adorable." he winked.

"Stop being insufferable." She countered childishly as they walked across the grass.

"Impossible." Sirius smirked. "Woah!" he exclaimed suddenly, pulling Adelaide closer by the waist just before her foot landed in a large muddy puddle, her hands landing on his chest to steady herself. Unfortunately he pulled her a little _too_ close, blinking a few times with the proximity of her face to his own. "Um... sorry... puddle." he murmured.

For a fleeting moment Adelaide relished in their closeness, forgetting that they were in full view of anyone else walking to class. They might have stayed stuck there forever, had it not been for Sirius pushing her away gingerly.

"Sooo um... that Olivia girl was pretty annoying, huh?" He began awkwardly, keeping his distance this time as he and Adelaide continued their walk down the grassy hillside path.

"Annoying would be an understatement..." Adelaide murmured. "Pretty brazen, don't you think? Cornering you in the hall like that?"

Sirius shrugged. "I dunno, happens a lot."

"That grabby ginger has done this before?!" Adelaide exclaimed incredulously, only further convincing Sirius that she really was jealous.

"Well not her specifically," he began casually, "but other girls like her keep trying to talk to me." he shrugged.

"They're trying to _flirt_ with you." Adelaide corrected shortly.

"Of course they are, look at me!" he laughed gesturing to himself with a flourish. "I _am_ rather handsome." he smirked.

"Rather annoying is more like it... dramatic poodle." Adelaide grumbled with her hands over her chest.

"It's not like I flirt back... unlike someone else I know..." Sirius said bumping shoulders with her again.

Adelaide held her head up high in defiance. "I don't know what you are talking about."

"Oh whatever!" Sirius said rolling his eyes dramatically. "Need I remind you of Pugface,—"

"His name is Robert—"

"—McGee, Jack Middleton, Edgar Bones..." he counted out on his fingers, "Evan Rosier—"

"I did not flirt with Evan Rosier!"

"But you'll admit that you flirted with the other ones?" Sirius asked with a smirk.

Once again, Adelaide put her chin up defiantly, realizing she fell for his trap. "I don't see how it's any of your business who I do or do not flirt with..." she said loftily.

"It's not." he shrugged. "Just an observation, love." he said lowly in her ear, causing chills to tingle down her spine— not that she would ever let him know that.

Suddenly, a gangly boy with crooked classes, smelling strongly of roses inserted himself between them, throwing an arm over each of their shoulders. "Hello friends! Long time no see!" he said brightly.

"Hi Prongsy." Adelaide giggled. "You smell... _floral_ today..."

James grinned. "Hmm, strange... So, I have something to run by you two." he said, voice drenched in mischief. "I've planned out the _best_ prank for Snivellus this weekend at Hogsmeade. We'll need to procure a few things before hand— just a couple of snakes, a barrel of hippogriff dung, and probably some more shampoo—"

"Addy and I can't go to Hogsmeade this weekend, Prongs." Sirius informed him before he got too far along in his list of supplies.

James looked scandalized and removed his arms from their shoulders. "Why not?!"

"Detention." Adelaide lied sadly.

" _Detention_!? For what?!" James exclaimed, arms flailing, offended that they would have the audacity to receive detention _without him_.

"McGonagall caught us throwing fanged frisbees at Filch." Sirius shrugged.

James looked crest fallen, yet understanding. "Well... at least it was for a noble cause..." he mumbled sadly.

"POTTER!" screamed the voice of Lily Evans from behind, causing all three to look back at the auburn haired girl covered in rose petals staring daggers into the messy haired boy.

James ruffled the back of his hair. "You're looking radiant as ever, Evans! I see you got the flowers... Wanna go to Hogsmeade with me?"

"NOT EVEN IN YOUR DREAMS!" she screamed, wand out and running toward him. "NOW STAY STILL SO I CAN HEX YOU!"

Adelaide and Sirius watched in amusement as Lily chased James down the hill, shooting the most benign jinxes possible at him. Then, a coldness came over Adelaide that had absolutely nothing to do with the weather outside as she saw Mary McDonald walking by arm-in-arm with Marlene McKinnon.

Sirius noticed her tense beside him. "You and Mary still aren't talking?" he asked softly.

"She wants to know what happened... but Moony already said he didn't want her to know and I have to respect that." Adelaide said stiffly.

"What about Marls?"

"I mean she's at least talking to me, but things have still been weird between us... she won't tell me what happened over the summer and she gets _super_ defensive every time I try to bring it up... says it's 'no big deal' and 'she doesn't want to talk about it'." Adelaide shrugged, as they approached the clearing where the class was gathered.

Sirius subtly held her hand. "It'll work out, love. I promise."

Adelaide nodded and sighed. "Yeah... yeah, you're probably right."

"I'm always right." he smirked.

"Let's not get carried away now..." she teased. "You're starting to sound like Reggie." she giggled.

"Ugh! Don't compare me to that little punk!"

Adelaide rolled her eyes as they listened to the professor go on about nifflers.

* * *

That Friday, the day before the secret date Adelaide sat slumped in her seat in Defense Against the Dark Arts, trying her hardest not to doze off as Professor Otis droned on. Her eyes began to flutter closed of their own accord when a small piece of parchment hit her cheek. Annoyed, Adelaide looked down with furrowed eyebrows and unfolded the note, already knowing whom it was from by the elegant flowing scrawl.

 **'Stop sleeping in class —S'**

She huffed in her seat, then picked up her quill to scribble down a reply.

 **'Stop throwing things at me —A'** she wrote, throwing the paper at Sirius, a few rows away when the teachers back was turned.

 **'Tell me what you want to do at Hogsmeade and** **maybe I'll stop** **—S'** the next note read. A feeling a both nervousness and excitement pulsed through her as a faint blush rose up her cheeks, just as Sirius had intended.

 **'I'll tell you after class —A'** she scribbled, hardly legible and sort of smeared. The note was tossed to Sirius who sent her a playful scowl, writing out his reply and chucking it toward her face once again, smirking.

 **'No. Now. —S'**

Completely ignoring the lecture at this point, Adelaide sighed and finally conceded.

 **'Anything, as long as no one finds us... —A'** she wrote in small letters as the note became more and more cramped, folding it once again and trying a charm that sent the note zooming beneath the seats and landing gently upon his desk.

The note zoomed back... but this time, to both note writer's horror, it was intercepted by Lily Evans. Thinking the note was for her, Lily opened it up and read the contents with utter confusion, looking around and catching Adelaide cringing a few seats away, and adding her own comment to their correspondence, and tossing it to Adelaide.

Despite her dread, Adelaide opened the letter.

 **'Challenge accepted ;) —S'**

 ** _'I thought you had detention!? —L'_**

With a small _thunk,_ Adelaide hit her head against the desk in despair, choosing to ignore both Lily and Sirius, unknowingly earning a look of sympathy from Mary.

The bell rang out overhead, signaling the start of lunch and Adelaide zoomed out of the class faster than a niffler chasing after fallen coins.

"Addy! ADDY!" called out the auburn haired girl Adelaide was avoiding. The sound of Lily's footsteps grew louder as she jogged to catch up with her. "Addy. What was that all about?" she whispered with a knowing smile.

"Nothing." Adelaide said, emotionlessly.

"Not nothing!" Lily hissed. "First of all, you really shouldn't skip your detention, it will only make matters that much worse... and second of all...he drew a freaking winky-face, Ads!"

"Yes... I'm aware of both..." Adelaide said cooly.

Lily furrowed her brows, giving Adelaide a hard stare. "There's something you aren't telling me, isn't there..."

Adelaide didn't respond.

"There is! What is it?! Are you two going on a secret date or something?!" Lily joked, snorting a laugh.

Adelaide's face paled and Lily's hands flew over her mouth, wide eyed with realization and shock. "Jiminy Cricket... You're not! Tell me you aren't!" she said a bit too loudly for Adelaide's comfort.

"Shush! No! Of course not!" she lied in a whisper.

Unconvinced, Lily smirked. "I don't believe you." she sang. "I saw you two all snuggled up together in the hospital wing, and how Sirius literally cannot leave you alone for two seconds—"

"Stop! You saw nothing!" Adelaide said in a panic. "I-I have to go before he takes all the crackers for my soup..." she said running away, leaving a smug looking Lily Evans alone in the hall.

Still rattled by Lily's unnervingly accurate guessing, Adelaide walked through the great hall toward her usual spot beside the boys. As she did so, someone came sauntering up beside her, slipping an arm around her waist. "Addykins, you didn't write me back." Sirius whispered in her ear, smirk audible.

Overwhelmed by how close he was once again, Adelaide didn't answer right away... leading Sirius to tickle her side. "Stop it!" she laughed, shoving him away as she sat down with the other boys. "What's up with you all?" she asked James, Remus, and even Peter who were giving her a strange look.

"What's up with _you_?" Remus asked with a smirk.

"Huh? Nothing? I almost fell asleep during Defense Against the Dark Arts though..."

"You mean when you and Padfoot were swapping secret messages _without us."_ James grumbled.

Sirius shrugged. "I was just telling her to wake up."

"Sure you were..." Remus said slowly sending a knowing look at Adelaide.

* * *

That evening after dinner, Adelaide laid on her stomach upon Sirius's bed, twirling her quill in her fingers as she tried to figure out the right way to word her charms essay.

"Okay, I'm bored. Anyone else want to go down to get some ice cream from the kitchens with me?" James asked wallowing on his bed.

"Sure!" Peter said instantly with a grin.

Remus looked interested, but hesitant.

"Come on Moon Moon, we can get you some chocolate chips to go on top..." James coaxed.

Remus rolled his eyes. "Way to use my weakness against me." he said with a smile, hoisting himself off the bed.

"Pads, Tuffy, you coming?" James asked.

"Nah, I'm going to stay here and eat Paddy's candy instead." Adelaide said casually with a smirk.

Sirius sighed dramatically, from where he sat at his desk, leaned back on the rear two legs of his chair. "Well now I have to stay to defend my poor chocolate frogs!"

"You sure?" James asked.

"Yeah, you all have fun!" Adelaide giggled.

Once they were gone, Adelaide sat up and sneakily eyed Sirius's candy drawer... she wasn't kidding when she said she was going to steal his chocolate.

While Sirius's eyes were glued to his Quidditch magazine, she silently scooted closer and closer toward the drawer, then quickly moved to open it, grab the chocolate frog box, and—

"You thieving feline!" Sirius yelled, standing from his seat and pointing at her theatrically.

Adelaide tried to stifle a smile as she pulled the box out and tried to get away, giggling.

"Oh no you don't!" Sirius called out behind her with a grin.

"Don't you know sharing is caring!" she called behind her as she raced around the room away from him, fumbling to open the box and start eating the frog before he could take it away.

Eventually they found themselves on either side of Sirius's bed in a stare down. Slowly, Adelaide picked up the squirming frog of chocolate and brought him closer and closer to her mouth. "Don't you dare eat him!" Sirius said warningly, pointing toward the frog.

Just before Adelaide could bite off the frogs head, Sirius leaped across the bed, snatched the frog from her fingers and threw him in a random direction.

Adelaide watched with heartache as the frog leaped out of the open window near where he landed, then picked up a pillow and smacked Sirius with it. "Really?!" she exclaimed in annoyance.

Sirius tried not to smile, he really did, but the corners of his mouth curved upward anyway. "I didn't know it would jump out the bloody window." he chuckled.

Still bitter, Adelaide humphed, then sat on his bed crosslegged to sulk.

"Oh come on Addy, I'll get you one of your own tomorrow." he tried, sitting beside her.

"We can't go to Honeydukes, you doofus." she mumbled.

Sirius blinked. "Oh yeah… secret date… Well I'll sneak out and get you some next week!"

Pouting, Adelaide looked up at him. "Promise?"

Sirius laughed at how sad she was about her ruined stolen candy. "Yes, love. I promise."

This seemed to satisfy the pouty blonde. "So, um… what's the plan for tomorrow?" she asked with a shy smile. Adelaide still felt a little awkward talking about the fact that they were going on a date… They hadn't exactly had a heart to heart yet on how they actually felt about each-other, or how this would affect their friendship going forward, but she figured they would cross that bridge when they came to it.

Sirius's face lit up. "I'm glad you asked!" he said with more enthusiasm than she was really expecting. "I planned everything out during Divination this afternoon. We're going to go a little after everyone else, so we can walk there without being spotted, then I thought we could check out this store I read about—"

"You read?" Adelaide teased.

"Ha ha." he rolled his eyes. "It's called Dominic Maestro's and it's supposed to have a ton of different records. They even have a whole section of punk rock." he grinned, wiggling his eyebrows.

"That's awesome!" Adelaide cheered. She always loved how excited he got about music.

"Then after we could look at all the Quidditch stuff at Spintwitches, maybe grab something to drink at the Hogs Head, then—"

"Hold on. The Hog's Head? Isn't that a bit… um… _dodgy_?" Adelaide said hesitantly.

Sirius gave her a side eyed look. "Well you're the one who wanted it to be a _secret_ date… our options are a little limited. It was either that or Madam Puddifoot's—"

"Dodgy is fine! Preferable even!" Adelaide said quickly, not even wanting to entertain the notion of being inside that horribly saccharine establishment.

A smirk found its way on Sirius's lips. "I thought you'd see it that way…" he said in amusement.

"So, what comes after the dodgy drinks?"

" _That_ is a surprise." he said with a smug smile.

"I hate surprises!" Adelaide complained.

Sirius chuckled. "That is the biggest lie you've ever told Miss Fawley."

Adelaide grumbled a bit about him being an obnoxious know-it-all as she made herself more comfortable, leaning against his headboard, but couldn't deny that he was right. She _loved_ surprises.

"I um… I'm really glad you said yes, Ads." Sirius said awkwardly, sitting on the opposite end of the bed with his legs outstretched. "I um… I thought you'd be worried that it'd make things weird between us or something…"

It seemed that they were going to cross that bridge tonight. "Erm… well it might." she shrugged looking down. "But one little date isn't all that big a deal in the grand scheme of things I guess…" she said softly, playing with a loose thread on the oversized red jumper she was wearing.

Sirius felt his heart sink. He wanted to go on more than ' _one_ little date' with her. "Y-yeah I suppose you're right." he said, forcing a chuckle.

"Um… so I got a letter from my parents today." Adelaide began, so desperate to change the subject that she brought up something that she was fully planning to put off indefinitely. Sirius raised his eyebrows in question. "They said they um… that they chunked Finn off the future husband list." she chuckled lightly. "But erm… added someone else…"

"Yeah, I know. It's Reg."

Adelaide looked at him blankly, then blinked. "H-how did you—"

"I've known since school started." he shrugged, frowning slightly.

Suddenly Adelaide thought back to how weird Regulus had been about seeing Sirius on the train. "Y-you knew this whole time?!"

Sirius looked down. "It wasn't my place to say anything… And I didn't want to make things weird between you and him." he shrugged. "It also makes me a little nauseous to think about." he said with a shiver.

Adelaide groaned and flopped onto her back. "UUGHH! Why is my life so effing complicated?!" she lamented.

"It would be less complicated if you just let me kidnap you." he teased in a sing-song voice.

"Kidnapping is sounding better and better…" she murmured, looking up to the top of his bed hangings, eyes taking in the simplicity of the scarlet fabric. "If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go?"

Sirius smiled. "The Potter's."

Adelaide sat up. "Really?"

"Really."

"Why?"

"I forget you've never been over there... But they're literally the nicest people ever, Addy. They genuinely love each other… and they've always been there for me. Why wouldn't I go there?"

"Sounds nice…" Adelaide smiled.

"Where would you go?"

"Well I was going to say Texas, but now I think I have to change my answer since you got all sappy on me…"

"Texas?! Why Texas!?" Sirius exclaimed with an amused smile.

"They have armadillos! Have you ever seen an armadillo, Padfoot?!" She asked passionately.

"Can't say I have, love." he chuckled.

"They're so weird looking, but so cute at the same time… and they have this cute armor around them, and when they get scared they just roll up into a ball!" she said gesturing wildly with her hands, a happy smile stretched across her face.

Sirius thought they sounded rather silly, but seeing her face light up seemed worth a trip across the ocean. "Addy. I promise I will take you to Texas to see the Armadillos one day." he said solemnly.

Adelaide grinned and leaned over to give him a kiss on the cheek, then leaned back. "My hero." she giggled.

"You missed." Sirius smirked, face a bit pink.

"Whoops." Adelaide shrugged, stomach fluttering with butterflies the size of armadillos.

Noticing her cheeks redden and a sly smile upon her lips, Sirius's smirk widened. "It's okay, love. We can try again tomorrow."


	73. Chapter 73

**Chapter 73- Secret Date**

As Adelaide continued to hang out with Sirius the night before their 'secret date,' her mind kept bouncing back to the fact that she hadn't told Mary anything about it. The idea of not being able to talk to her, or fret about what outfit she would wear with her, or listen to Mary rant about weird, but awesome, her own date with Evan had been, began to wear a hole in her heart. She needed her best friend back... or at least, she needed to let Mary know how important she was to her.

So, as soon as James and the others returned, Adelaide quickly excused herself for bed, sprinting down the boys staircase then back up to the girls room, becoming a little winded in the process.

With a dramatic flourish worthy of James Potter, she flung the door to the dorm open and quickly eyed just the person she was looking for, sitting on her bed reading a Quidditch magazine. Thankfully the other two were still downstairs last she saw, so she could make her speech without having to cast a muffling charm beforehand.

With heavy footsteps and an even heavier heart, Adelaide padded across the room to Mary McDonald, not even bothering to sit down.

Breath shaky and fingers fumbling with the hem of her sleeve, she began. "Mary, I am so so so sorry that I didn't tell you— _can't_ tell you what happened that night I got hurt, but I swear it's not because I don't care about you, or trust you, or love you. You are my best friend, the first girl friend I've ever really had… your my sister... and I hate not talking to you. I see you walking past in the halls or sitting in class, and all I want to do is run up and hug you and listen to you rant about Quidditch, or how bad Hubert Macmillan's breath smells, or how squirrelly and handsome Evan Rosier is. I—I miss you mare... But I understand if you don't want to be my friend anymore. I just— I just had to tell you that."

"I forgive you, Addy..." Mary said softly, glassy eyed from what she knew had to have been a difficult speech for her closed-off friend to make. "Remus and Lily told me what happened.

That really threw Adelaide off, not that she wasn't a bit unsettled to begin with. "They-they what?—what did they tell you?!"

"I think Remus referred to it as a 'fuzzy little issue' or something like that...?"

"He told you about his poorly behaved rabbit?" Adelaide guessed, not wanting to spill the beans in case they told her a cover story.

"A what— his rabbit? No! They told me about how he's a werewolf." She explained.

"He—he told you?" Adelaide asked in shock, sitting down upon the brunette's bed before her knees collapsed beneath her. Remus hadn't even told her and the boys willingly... actually, now that she thought about it, she wasn't sure he had told anyone without them figuring it out beforehand.

"Well he tried to... seemed a bit difficult for him, so Lily filled in the gaps, but yes. He told me that you were hurt trying to help him... and that he was the one who was making you keep his secret."

"He really told you!?" Adelaide asked once again in disbelief. It seemed awfully out of character for him to be so forthcoming.

Mary laughed. "Yes, tonight... I think he was going to get ice cream or something with James and Peter originally, but grabbed Lily and explained everything in this weird room behind a painting... there were purple couches, I think you'd like it." Mary commented. "Point is, he was worried that making you keep his secret was going to ruin our friendship... said he wouldn't be able to live with himself if he ruined a perfectly good best friendship."

"And... it doesn't... it doesn't bother you that he's—"

"Merlin, no! Not at all! If anything I have more respect for him! To think he's had to deal with all that since he was so little... feeling so alone... it—well it just breaks my heart... He is so strong because of it though." she said with a small smile.

Adelaide nodded. He _was_ strong because of it. "Did they erm... did they tell you how I helped him...during the full moon?"

"They said you could turn into a cat... which I feel like should have surprised me more than it really did, but I mean... you're essentially a cat anyway." she joked.

"I just—I still can't believe they told you..." Adelaide said with a look of pleasant bewilderment.

Mary nodded, smiling. "The thing I can't quite figure out is how Lily knew..."

Something about this lovely heartfelt moment of reconnection told Adelaide that now was probably not the best time to tell her how they were nearly slaughter by Loony Moony as second years. "Erm... she helped with the cat thing."

"Oh! Well then that makes way more sense!"

A smile found its way upon Adelaide's lips. "So, does this mean we're friends again?"

Mary responded with a somewhat violent hug. "Yes! Of course!" she said through the mass of soft almost white hair.

As they parted, Adelaide sighed in relief, content and unburdened for a whole thirty seconds before remembering that she was in dire need of Mary's help. "Erm... so Mary... I'm going on a date tomorrow... a _secret_ date..."

Mary's big brown eyes grew even bigger. "A date?!"

"... with Sirius."

Instantly, and almost aggressively, Mary dissolved in a fit of squeals, long limbs flailing in excitement. "Ahhh! How did this—did you tell him?! Oh Good Merlin, please tell me that poor soul knows how much you fancy him!"

"Erm... not exactly..." Adelaide forced out awkwardly. "I mean, I'm pretty sure he knows... but we haven't um... actully talked about it... yet..." she ended with a cringe. "But I think I erm... I think we might kiss tomorrow..."

Once Mary was done squealing again, she made Adelaide recount all the events that she had missed leading up to their date the next day.

Once she was fully informed, Mary grinned with her hands on either side of her face. "Oh he is sooo smitten with you..."

"Yes, well... I need some advice... especially since you've... you know..."

"Kissed someone?" Mary giggled. "I don't think I'll be much help... it was absolutely horrible." a shiver of disgust ran through her just at the memory of being anywhere close to Hubert Macmillan. "That is the _last_ time I ever play spin the bottle with those bloody Hufflepuffs." she grumbled. "But I _can_ help you with your outfit!"

And so she did.

The two best friends giggled and laughed, picking out the perfect ensemble for the following day, the time they spent apart seeming more and more like a bad dream.

* * *

The next morning, Adelaide arose to a gloomy overcast sky that loomed with the promise of rain.

"All dolled up for your date?" commented Lily Evans as she braided her hair, eyeing Adelaide's loose white-blonde curls, form-fitting black jumper, and a rather cute pair of jeans that she made a mental note of borrowing at some point.

Pausing from her attempt to apply some mascara, Adelaide sent the auburn witch a dirty look. "I told you, I have detention."

"Detention with _Sirius._ " Lily said with a knowing smile.

"You have a detention date with Sirius?" Marlene asked with a smirk.

"Yes—no— ugh! Detention with him— not a date." Adelaide said frustratedly, yet proud that she applied her mascara successfully all on her own.

"Mhmm... sure." Marlene said, completely unconvinced. "You look hot, for what it's worth."

A faint blush bloomed upon her cheeks. "Thanks... Well, I should be off... told the boys I would grab breakfast with them before..." Adelaide said quickly, grabbing her charmed handbag and racing down the stairs, trying not to trip... as she was prone to do when she was nervous.

Seconds later, she stepped into the common room and saw Sirius leaned against the wall with his hands in his jean pockets, wearing a black shirt and a black jacket. Of course they matched, she thought to herself. Standing beside him were the other three boys, all chattering away with more energy than anyone else in the common room that early in the morning.

James was the first to see her, giving her a wave and a smile. "G'morning Addy! You look nice!"

"Thanks..." she said shyly, catching eyes with Sirius who looked just about the same as he did when he saw her at the gala, figuring it probably had something to do with the fact that her eyelashes were actually visible.

The longer Sirius looked at her without saying anything, the more self-conscious she was feeling, so eventually she had to avert her eyes elsewhere. Elsewhere, happened to be Remus Lupin, who appeared to be rather amused by his dumbfounded friend.

"Remus!" Adelaide exclaimed, running up to him and jumping to hug him around the neck. "Mary told me what you did, and I think it was the most selfless thing anyone has ever done for me. Thank you." she said quietly as her feet returned to the ground.

"You're welcome," he said simply, then bending down to whisper in her ear. "Now, you should probably go hug Padfoot before he passes out or something."

A melodic laugh tumbled from her lips as she made her way to Sirius a few paces away, wrapping her arms around him, despite the strange look on his face.

"You look so freaking beautiful." he murmured softly in her ear, causing her cheeks to flush and a smile to force its way unto her mouth.

* * *

"You two look awfully nice just to be polishing trophies." James commented suspiciously as they walked down the grand staircase to the great hall.

Face pale with panic Adelaide looked to Sirius for help. "We're serving our detention with McGonagall, and figured she might let us out early." Sirius lied unflinchingly.

This seemed like a plausible enough answer to satisfy the messy haired boy for the moment, but James could tell there was something else going on...

* * *

After they finished their breakfast, the other's all headed toward the courtyard to leave, but Sirius and Adelaide stayed behind, still sitting beside each other at the long Gryffindor table.

"So... what's the surprise?" Adelaide asked quickly with a sneaky smile.

"I'm not telling you yet!" Sirius said, feigning exasperation. "But did you bring the bag?"

Adelaide nodded, leaning so that he could see the enchanted handbag beside her. "Why did you need me to bring this one, specifically?"

"Because... I need it for the surprise!" he said as if it should have been obvious. "Now, come on, we need to head back to the dorm for one last thing."

Quickly, Sirius stood up from the table, all but dragging Adelaide out the great hall and back up all the steps of the grand staircase.

"Addy, you're going to need to pick up the pace or we're going to be all off schedule." Sirius told her kindly.

Adelaide slumped against the bannister and gave him a desperate look. "There's too many... I can't..." she said melodramatically, earning an annoyed look from passersby.

"Up." Sirius said, assuming the piggy-back stance.

Without a second word, Adelaide jumped up, then leaned forward to give him a quick kiss on the cheek, covered from view by her long nearly white hair, making his heart beat a bit quicker, and not from exercise. "Thanks."

"Anything for you, Addykins."

* * *

After they had successfully procured the mysterious thing needed for her surprise, and placed it within the bag for easy transport, Adelaide and Sirius walked the now nearly deserted path to Hogsmeade.

"So, let me get this straight... You put the stuff for the surprise in my purse... and now I have to carry it around all day..."

"Um... well yeah..." Sirius replied a little awkwardly, running a hand through his perfectly messy black curls. Honestly, he hadn't really thought of it that way.

"But what if I see it when I grab my money?" Adelaide asked with concern.

"Well that won't be an issue since I'm paying for everything." he winked, lopping an arm over her shoulders.

"What a gentleman." she laughed. "If only I could get you to chew with your mouth closed..."

"Says the girl who talks with her mouth full all the time!" he chuckled.

"Touché, Black." she conceded. "So, where to first!?"

A wide smile stretched across Sirius's face. "First, is music... if that's okay with you."

Adelaide smiled up at him. "Perfect."

Soon, they reached the village and the real struggle began. Up ahead of them were the Marauders heading towards Zonkos, with Mary and Marlene sitting on a bench outside Honeydukes, and Lily and Severus walking toward the Herbology shop, _Dogweed and Deathcap_.

Sirius pulled Adelaide by the hand into the first place he could find, just to get out of view. "Sirius..." Adelaide hissed from where they were crouched just inside the front door.

"Shhh... I'm trying to figure out a way around them—" A small hand began whacking his arm as he tried to look out the window to the street.

"Sirius!" she whisper shouted, whacking him even more.

"What?!" he asked, finally turning to face her, only to realize why she had been so worked up.

All around them were happy couples smooshed into cramped tables. Cute tea cups, doilies, pink— it was a nightmare. They had accidentally stepped into Madam Puttifoot's Tea Shop.

"Sirius, I want out. Now." Adelaide growled furiously.

"Uh.. sure thing, love."

Within seconds, Sirius pulled her by the hand which he was still holding back into the bustling street. Being spotted seemed preferable to being in that nightmarish place.

"Quick, this way!" Adelaide exclaimed, dragging him into a shadowy alleyway, behind a tall stack of empty wooden crates.

The secluded alley was much quieter than the main street only a little ways away. Ragged breaths of the two teens mixed with the dripping of a nearby gutter drain, made the whole endeavor seem that much more exciting.

"This is kind of fun...sneaking around like this... Seems appropriate for two Marauders, don't you think?" he asked looking down at the pretty girl beside him.

"Very appropriate." she nodded with a laugh. "So, where is this Derick Minestrone's, or whatever it's called?"

"Minestrone's...isn't that a soup?" he chuckled as Adelaide shrugged. "It's called Dominic Maestro's, and actually... I think it's this way..." he said, leading her down the cobbled path of the alleyway.

Hand-in-hand they walked through the shadows until they reached a side street revealing a brick storefront, with large window's containing all types of instruments. Adelaide was a little worried, what if this was just a normal music shop... without any records...

"Um... you're sure they have the records and stuff here?"

"Absolutely positive." Sirius said easily, opening the old maroon door for her.

The jingling bells on the door rang out, alerting a round man with a square jaw and greying hair behind the counter that they had arrived.

As Sirius exchanged pleasantries with the shopkeeper, Adelaide drifted off looking in wonder at the surprisingly large shop. The front room contained many musical instruments, as she expected, but beyond there were rows and rows of shelves and large boxes containing all sorts of records, and record players sprinkled in sporadically. Scattered across the room above the different sections, were little arrow shaped plaques, hung in the air by magic, indicating the genres.

Without even noticing what she was doing, Adelaide wandered away from Sirius, thumbing through some of the wizard titles she actually knew.

"So, what do you think?" Sirius said, walking up and standing close beside her, shoulders brushing.

Big forest green eyes looked up at him softly. "It's wonderful."

"Come on, the guy up front said they keep the muggle stuff in the back." he said, guiding her by the waist toward the back of the store. Eventually they made their way to a cozy alcove full of music from various popular muggle artists, with a record player in the center.

"So, we can just... pick something and just listen to it? Right here?" Adelaide asked, glancing up as she looked through some disco tunes.

"Pretty much." Sirius said over his shoulder, searching through a bookcase for one record in particular. "Ah ha! Found it!" he said, holding a Vinyl case up in the air triumphantly.

"And what exactly did you find?" she laughed.

"Only the best band in existence." he said casually, pulling the record out and placing it on the player. "Okay, now just sit here, close your eyes and listen." he said pointing to the carpeted floor. Adelaide sat, hesitantly, and was quickly joined by Sirius beside her as 'Stairway to Heaven' by Led Zeppelin began to play.

The soft guitar plucking lulled them into a completely different world than the cozy record shop... but when the electric guitar solo towards the end began to ring out, Sirius went off into a whole other galaxy. Adelaide enjoyed the song very much, but enjoyed sneaking a peak at Sirius's intense facial expression throughout. His enthusiasm was infectious.

"That was awesome." Adelaide said before he had a chance to ask her how she liked it.

Sirius grinned, then stood up to look for another record. "I know... but I have a feeling you'll like another one better... you said Lily has some Beatles stuff, right?"

"Mhmm, but she said it's all the early stuff... nicked it from her mum."

"Alright, well there's one of the later ones I want you to hear... It's more... I dunno, it just seems more you." he shrugged.

Unsure of what that meant, Adelaide still sat letting Sirius run the show, smiling softly at how cute he was running around so intently, trying to find just the right songs to let her listen to.

"You're adorable." she said softly after several minutes of him prattling on about bands she had never heard of.

Sirius's face went a little pink. "What makes you say that?" he asked raising an eyebrow.

Adelaide shrugged, still looking at him with her sweet little smile. "You just are."

"I dunno if that's a compliment or not..." he said honestly, sheepishly smiling and running a hand through his hair.

"It is." she informed him. "A very high compliment."

Sirius flushed a bit more and gave her a goofy smile.

For two hours they sat listening to song after song, talking about the best lyrics, the coolest guitar solos, and the like. Finally, Sirius put on the last song of the day before they headed to The Hogs Head (skipping the quidditch shop entirely).

"Okay, this is that Beatles song I said you would like!" Sirius told her as he placed 'Blackbird' on the turntable.

Turns out, Sirius was very right. Something about that song resonated deep within Adelaide in a way she'd never experienced with any of the other songs Sirius put on. It was as if they were singing what she was feeling. Singing things that she herself was afraid to admit aloud.

The song came to an end and Sirius moved to put it away back on the shelf.

"NO! Stop! Can we— can we listen to it again?" she asked.

Sirius looked at her with slight amusement, placing the vinyl back down. "Of course, Addykins."

Again, she felt so connected, so drawn to this metaphoric bird...

 _'You were only waiting for this moment to be free,'_

All she wanted was to be free... Free of all the insecurities that plagued her. Free of the expectations unjustly placed upon her. Broken, but learning how to fend for herself... how to fly on her own, how to think for herself and be her own person no matter what other people thought—no matter what her parents thought. Eyes still adjusting to a new bright world so different from the darkness she had grown up in.

"I really like this one." she said softly, leaning her head on Sirius's shoulder as she made him play it for a third time.

"I can tell..." he chuckled lightly.

Slowly, but deliberately, Sirius's arm moved it's way around her waist, pulling her closer and causing Adelaide's heart to beat a bit faster. She was nervous but felt so incredibly safe around him at the same time.

"Addykins..." he began, "I-I really fancy you."

Adelaide was left breathless from his confession. This was, of course, something she already knew, but hearing it from him... listening to him actually put the words out there into the universe, it was enough to leave her speechless.

When Adelaide didn't respond, Sirius continued. "I fancy you, Ads... and I don't know what to do. I don't want to make things weird, or make things more difficult for you— merlin knows you have enough to deal with as it is— I just- I just want to be with you... Even if that's just as your best friend." he said softly.

"I fancy you, too." she responded in a small voice, moving slightly to smile up at him, faces so very close together already.

Sirius felt like his heart could burst with happiness.

Smiling softly, his hand moved up toward her cheek, thumb accidentally brushing past her lower lip as he did so. Sparkling grey eyes looked at her with such a striking amount of intensity; looking at her as if she was the only thing that existed in the world... and to be fair, she was for Sirius in that moment. All he could smell was lavender and vanilla, all he could see were her big beautiful forest green eyes, all he wanted was her... and all she wanted was him.

Adelaide waited with bated breath as his eyes began to dance down toward her lips, and his thumb ghosted over her jaw, tilting her delicate face toward his own.

Quickly, he began to move in closer. Her breath hitched, her heart was beating wildly, palms probably sweating, eyes fluttering as his warm breath fanned across her face, their nervous breaths muffled only slightly by the sound of The Beatles singing.

Gently, Sirius placed a kiss on her cheek, causing Adelaide to roll her eyes (despite the chills sent down her spine) and move her arms around his neck. "You missed." she said softly with a smile.

Less than a second later, his lips finally met hers, moving together clumsily, yet perfectly. Their eyes fluttered closed with their hearts in a frenzy of emotions. Adelaide wondered briefly how it was possible to simultaneously feel like she was going to die, melt into the floor, and float away in pure happiness. They stayed there, lips moving together for a bit longer than either one really expected, both not wanting to be parted. But then the music ended, and breathlessly they separated, yet still wrapped up in each other.

"You have absolutely no idea how long I've wanted to do that." Sirius said with a dazed smile, resting his forehead on hers.

Dazed as well, Adelaide smile back, thoughts too fuzzy to give him a proper response, instead placing another quick kiss to his lips, much to Sirius's delight.

"Come on, I do believe I owe you some dodgy drinks." Sirius winked, strong hands helping her up off the floor.

Smiling and blushing, they made their way out the store, and back into the cobbled side street. Winding their way through the alley back toward the main street, Adelaide began to shuffle beside him. Even through rose tinted glasses, Sirius could see that there was something weighing on her.

"Addy, are you... are you okay?" he asked softly.

As hard as she tried to fight back the creeping worry within her, her mind kept circling back to what this would do to their friendship, where they went from here, how much everything could change from a simple kiss...

"I'm... I'm happy." She said in a not so happy fashion. Sirius gave her a questioning look. "I really am, I just—I dunno I just feel like— James!" She exclaimed suddenly, eyes the size of saucers, pulling him into a shadowing corner.

"You feel like James?" Sirius asked bewildered.

"Shhh! No! James! He's down there!" She pointed down the street, "I think he saw us..."

Slowly, Sirius craned his neck around the corner of the alley from which they were pressed against, to see James, Peter, and Remus walking toward the Three broomsticks. James shot a look behind him in their direction. Sirius instantly scooted closer to Adelaide, out of view and breathing hard.

"Erm... he's definitely suspicious." Sirius said sheepishly.

"Well, is he gone?!"

"Uhh... one second." Sirius, once again poked his head out. "Um... nope. No. Definitely not gone." he said quickly. "He may or may not be headed this direction."

Adelaide paled. "Excuse me?!" she squeaked. "We have to go..."she reached to grab his hand and lead him away, but a voice rendered her frozen.

"Well, well, well! What do we have here?!"

There, standing with his hands on his hips, was none other than James Potter wearing a satisfied smirk.

"I knew you two were up to something!" he said suddenly pointing to Sirius with one hand and Adelaide with the other.

"You caught us Prongs!" Sirius chuckled, catching Adelaide completely off guard.

"So, what is this?" James said gesturing wildly between the two.

"Oh you know, just robbing a few stores, running from aurors— the usual." Sirius said casually, inspecting his nails. "Probably fleeing the country later as well."

"You forgot the part about the dragon," Adelaide added easily, playing along. "His name is Doug."

James rolled his eyes dramatically. "Well, I'm very disappointed that you would leave me out of your illegal escapades..." he grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest... noticing that Sirius was clutching Adelaide's hand. "So, what were you really up to, Padfoot?" He smirked, eyes looking pointedly down to their hands.

Instantly, Adelaide ripped her hand from Sirius's and scooted away. "Nothing!" she yelped.

"Turns out, our detention isn't until next week." Sirius said unfazed, but secretly missing having her close.

"Sure... well now that you're free, why don't you come have some butterbeer with us."

"Erm... we uh... well we sort of already had plans to go somewhere else..." Sirius said, calm demeanor shaken as he awkwardly scratched the back of his neck, glancing to Adelaide.

James's smirk returned. "Oh, _plans_. I see... well... you two run off and enjoy your _plans."_

"Uh... thanks, we will. Come on Padfoot!"

A small hand landed on Sirius's wrist pulling them past James and onward toward the hogs head. Sirius asked the barkeep for a couple of bottles of butterbeer while Adelaide found them a place to sit.

"He knows." she said grumpily as Sirius slid to sit beside her in their booth. "James knows."

"I mean, he already knows I like you, he's probably just trying to give me a hard time." Sirius reasoned. "But—would it such a bad thing if he did know? I mean this whole secret date thing has been fun and all, but it might be nice to be able to walk the streets without feeling like a fugitive."

Adelaide made a guilty face.

"But you don't want that, do you? You don't want people to know..."

Adelaide hid her face in her hands. "Do you hate me?" She mumbled.

"No, you idiot. I could never hate you!" He chuckled. "I think you're ridiculous and care too much about what other people think, but I don't hate you because of it." he said with a reassuring smile. "Let's just enjoy today, and talk about all the heavy stuff later, alright?"

Adelaide bit her lip and looked up at him to nod.

* * *

"Sirius! We've been walking for ages!" Adelaide complained.

In reality, they'd only been walking for a few minutes, heading down a path to a small grassy clearing near town.

"Oh relax, we'll be there in a second."

"And where exactly will we be? It's lunch time..."

"Just be patient, love! All shall be revealed in due time!"

Adelaide grumbled under her breath, cursing the stupid kissable lunch ruiner.

"Did I just hear you call me kissable...?" He stopped in his steps to look back at her, sending her a devilish smile.

"Maybe." She said with her head held high.

Sirius nodded thoughtfully. "Sounds about right, now hurry up!"

Once they reached the spot in question beside a few leafy trees, Adelaide sat down on the soft grass to grumble some more, and Sirius reached out to grab the purse beside her.

"Purse snatcher!" she teased.

"Yes. Well. Desperate times and all that. Now, close your eyes."

"What?!"

"Close your eyes!"

"Why!?"

Sirius groaned in exasperation of her stubbornness. "Because I have to set up the surprise. Now close them! ...and no peaking!"

Begrudgingly, Adelaide complied.

A combination of clanking, rustling, and footsteps emanated from where Sirius was 'setting up the surprise' for Adelaide. Several _long_ minutes ticked by, but eventually Sirius padded back to where she was sitting in the grass, helping her to her feet, then leading her forward, eyes still shut.

"Can I look now?"

"Just a few more steps… and… Okay! Now you can look!" Sirius said excitedly.

Adelaide's eyes flew open and drank in the lovely scene before her. A large blanket had been laid out upon the ground, with a variety food spread across and a bundle of wildflowers on top of a large basket.

"A picnic?" she asked, looking up to Sirius with a awestruck smile.

"You like being outside." he shrugged. "I thought you'd like it."

"I love it!" she squealed, running up to hug him around the neck, hanging on for a little bit longer than entirely necessary. She pulled away slightly, arms still around his neck, his arms still holding her waist. "This has been just— just so perfect."she said with a dazed smile. "Thank you."

"Anything for you, Addykins." he said, pressing a little kiss to her nose. "Now, let's eat before you get hangry and start yelling at me again!" he teased, not even noticing the light sprinkle of rain beginning to fall.

* * *

James watched as Adelaide and Sirius ran into the common room, laughing and completely drenched from being out in the rain storm.

"I'm going to go change, I'll be back down in a second." Adelaide chuckled, sprinting up the stairs.

Sirius flung himself onto the couch beside James, sighing and grinning like a complete idiot.

"How was your date?" James jested.

"It— it wasn't a date…" Sirius said unconvincingly.

"Totally was." James chuckled, noticing that there was something different about his friend. "What's up with that face?"

"What face?"

"The face where you look like a love sick puppy."

"I do not—"

"Oh Merlin… oh sweet baby Merlin…" James said, with his hands over his mouth. "You kissed her, didn't you!?"

Sirius's face turned a bit pink. "I-I didn't…"

James's eyes went wide and his face lit up in a grin. "YOU DID! MY LITTLE PUP IS ALL GROWN UP!"


	74. Chapter 74

**Chapter 74- Together**

After changing into a large grey jumper, Adelaide ambled down the stairs to the common room, smiling to herself as she looked down at her feet. She'd kissed him. He felt the same about her as she felt about him. All was lovely and right in the wold. Sure, there was still the issue of where they went from here, but even a rainstorm couldn't douse the warmth of optimism that he seemed to instill in her at that moment. Besides, they wouldn't have to talk about all of that heavy stuff just yet. Right?

She stepped into the common room expecting to find Sirius waiting for her. Instead, she was met with the image of Sirius tackling James; wrestling on the floor by the couch. Now, Adelaide had been friends with the bunch of boys long enough to know the difference between a playful tussle and a genuine fight. However, in this specific instance, she couldn't quite tell what was going on.

James was laughing like a maniac but Sirius looked annoyed, angry, and frustrated as he fought to smack the smirk off of James.

"What the hell are you doing?!" she exclaimed incredulously.

Sirius's head popped up almost cartoonishly, giving her a goofy grin, still pinning a writhing James onto the ground, one hand over his mouth. "Hello, Love! You're back!"

"Sirius, why are you attacking James?!"

Sirius's face turned calm, almost thoughtful, nodding as if he just remembered he was holding down the other gangly boy. "Oh, yeah. He was being an annoying prick."

"I was only asking a question!" James yelped, taking advantage of Sirius's momentary lack of focus due to Adelaide, and wriggling out from his clutches.

Face morphing into frustration, Sirius launched himself after James, grabbing onto his ankle to keep him from crawling away. But Adelaide was having none of it.

"STOP IT! BOTH OF YOU!" She screamed, leaping over the couch to intercede. "What the hell is wrong with you?!"

A wide and giddy smirk etched itself upon James's face. "I was just asking Padfoot how your k—" his next words were muffled as Sirius squirmed past Adelaide to clamp his hands over his mouth.

"You can lick my hand all you want! You are not talking like that in front of her!" Sirius scolded to the boy with severely crooked glasses.

Adelaide frowned. "Talking like _what_ in front of me?"

"Not important."

"You are tackling, and probably semi-suffocating your best friend right now. I'd say it was a little important." she replied in an annoyed tone, gesturing between the two so as to express the extent of her disapproval.

James broke free again. "I was only asking how your first snog went!" he grinned.

The blood rushed to Adelaide's face in extreme embarrassment. "You told him?" she asked in a small voice, looking at Sirius with eyes full of hurt, betrayal... and tears.

Before Sirius had a chance to explain, Adelaide sprinted away up the girls' stairs to the dorm, then flung herself on to her bed dramatically.

"Addy?! What happened? Are you okay?" Mary asked with concern. Adelaide had been in such a good mood only minutes before, now she looked about ready to cry.

"Boys are stupid." She mumbled through her pillow.

Mary frowned. "Is this about Sirius? I thought your date went well..."

"It did." she groaned woefully.

A strange scratching came at the door and Mary reluctantly left her friend to see what caused it.

"Erm... Addy... there's a dog—"

"It's Sirius."

Confused, Mary looked at the big black dog staring up at her with pleading grey eyes, then leaned behind the door to address her friend. "It's a serious dog, or Sirius is the dog?"

"I'm a cat, he's a dog, it's a whole thing. Just tell him to go away."

Mary cleared her throat, feeling absolutely ridiculous. "Erm... go away dog—Sirius." She said halfheartedly. "Wait, isn't Sirius the Dog Star or something?" She asked, looking back at Adelaide as the dog slipped between her knees.

"Yes, it is. Ironic, I know." Sirius said impatiently, walking over to sit on Adelaide's bed, completely human.

"Erm... I'll just—um... I'll just let you two work this out on your own. Yeah? Yeah." Mary said as she creeped out of the dorm awkwardly.

"No! Mary! Ughhh!" Adelaide exclaimed, throwing Dorris at the now closed dorm door. Without missing a beat, she then picked up her wand and locked the door to avoid anymore intrusions. "What do you want?" she spat, rounding to face the mutt sitting on her bed without permission.

"I didn't tell him, I swear! He figured out from my face or something." Sirius said pitifully. "I would never—I know you wanted to keep it a secret... not sure why you wanted to... but I promise I denied everything..."

"You didn't tell him anything?" She asked in a small voice, feeling like a fool for believing he ever would.

"Not a thing. But he—well it's James, you know how annoying he can be... honestly, I think he was really excited about us um... getting _together_ or whatever..."

Adelaide's heart raced. "We—we aren't _together_ though."

Bewildered, Sirius blinked. "But—I thought we—you said— you said you fancied me... Addy I kissed you! You kissed me!" he exclaimed running his hands through his hair. "How— I thought that meant... I thought that meant you wanted to be with me..."

Looking at his pleading eyes of sadness made Adelaide's heart break. "I do want to be with you. But it isn't that simple, Sirius." she said gently, scooting closer to hold his hand.

Grey eyes bore into her own. "Yes, yes it is that simple."

"No, Sirius, it isn't. I'm going to be engaged—"

"—yeah, and probably to me—"

"—but it could also be to your brother, or Rob, or Evan—"

Sirius made a retching sound at the thought. "I already told you I would get you out of there before that happened." he said in a quiet, but firm voice.

"I know." she smiled sadly. "But you're also my bestest best friend, and I don't want to ruin that. I mean we're both still so young—"

"You're young, I'm almost 15."

"Sirius, please stop interrupting." she sighed.

"Sorry, love . Go on."

Taking a deep breath, Adelaide began again. "We are both relatively young, and I just don't want us—us getting caught up in our feelings to ruin the most important friendship I have." she ended looking down at his hand in hers.

Sirius scooted closer to Adelaide and tucked a bit of stray hair behind her ear. "Addy, I understand why that would scare you, but it shouldn't. I-I don't think we're getting caught up in our feelings here, and I really don't think I would ever let something like this ruin our friendship."

"But how can you say that?! You don't know what'll happen!"

"Neither do you! For all you know, everything will work out fine, and you'll have worked yourself into a tizzy over nothing."

"I'm a seer, remember..." she added ruefully.

"And in all those weird dreams, have you ever seen us not caring about each other?"

"I saw you being tortured... and it felt like my heart was being ripped out of my chest..." she said in almost a whisper.

Just hearing about how he was going to endure that kind of pain one day— that she would have to witness it—always made Sirius a little uneasy, but he put those feelings aside so he could be strong for Adelaide. He had to. "Addy, I am not being dramatic when I say I'd do anything for you."

"I know that—"

Sirius shook his head. "No, I don't think you do, or else we wouldn't be having this conversation right now."

Adelaide looked back at him with furrowed brows of confusion.

"Addy, I'm not going to force you to be my girlfriend... I would love it if you were, but I would be okay if that wasn't what you wanted. I told you before that I just want to be with you, even if it's just as your best friend, and I meant it. But if this—if being together _is_ what you want and you're just too afraid to go for it, I want you to know that I'll do my very best to make sure none of the stuff you're worried about happens."

Something about the sincerity of his tone, or perhaps the gut-wrenching look in his eyes made Adelaide believe him.

"But the guys—"

"They'll be happy that we're happy." he said surely. Behind all the annoying comments and dramatic reactions, deep down, they both knew that it was true.

"But my parents—"

"I'm already on the bloody list. If anything, I think us being together would put more pressure on them to pick me instead of the other guys. But, like I said. Doesn't matter. I'm not going to let them force you into marrying anyone against your will, even if it's me."

"But—but what—what if—" Adelaide sputtered, starting to run out of reasons not to be with him. She internally cursed him for being so freaking persuasive.

Sirius could tell she was just fishing for excuses at this point. "Addy, what are you really afraid of?" he asked softly, rubbing her back soothingly.

Adelaide began to fiddle with the hem of her jumper sleeves. "I-I'm not afraid..."

"I can tell when you're lying, Ads."

"Well, what if— what if I end up being a horrible girlfriend?" she said quickly in a soft voice.

Sirius reached to hold her hand again. "Addy. The only thing horrible about you is your handwriting." he said with a half smile.

"I have nice handwriting." she defended, fighting to stay stoic.

Sirius gave her a sympathetic smile. "It looks like a dying chicken danced on the page, love."

"Way to make a girl feel special." she scoffed, trying very hard to not laugh.

"Is that really what you're worried about? That you're going to 'fail' at being a girlfriend or something?" he asked, eyes searching her for answers.

"Erm… well… yeah, kinda." she mumbled.

Sirius laughed. "You overthink these things way too much, Ads." he said, shaking his head with another round of chuckles. Obviously he didn't see her worry as a legitimate reason to not be together.

"Oh shush!" she hushed with a playful swat on his arm, finding that she was smiling back. It did seem a little silly when he put it like that.

"Adelaide," Sirius began more subdued, smiling softly as he leaned closer, catching her off guard by actually using her real name. "will you— will you be my girlfriend?" he asked, grey eyes looking at her intensely.

Adelaide's heart leaped, and before her mind could formulate another excuse, the stupid Gryffindor spoke. "Yes."

Then his lips were on hers again.

His lips were soft and warm and Adelaide felt like she was melting. Her hands tangled into his hair and his hands moved to her waist, pulling her closer. Then the kisses became more desperate, as if this would be their last.

 _KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK_

"ADDY? ARE YOU IN THERE? I NEED MY TEXT BOOK!"

The voice of Lily Evans effectively put an end to the moment.

Breathless and dizzy, Adelaide and Sirius pulled apart, both in a daze.

"ADDY! OPEN THE DAMN DOOR!"

"Uh… Just a second!" Adelaide called back. "Quick, under— under the bed." she hissed to Sirius, who did so immediately. "Ugh! No, as Padfoot!"

"COME ON! SEV IS WAITING FOR ME OUT SIDE THE COMMON ROOM!"

A low growl came from under the bed.

"Coming Lil'!"

The door opened and Lily stormed in immediately, obviously in a mood.

"Erm… you okay Lily?" she asked.

"I'm great. Just great. Better than great I'm flipping fantastic!" she ranted sarcastically, leaving Adelaide to feel a bit awkward. Lily grabbed her book from her desk and sighed. "Sorry. It's just… his friends… Sev's… I ugh. I just don't know why he insists on hanging out with them. It's obvious they fancy the dark arts." she said miserably.

As much as Adelaide would have loved to have been of some comfort, she was a little distracted by the fact that her new boyfriend was hiding under her bed as a dog. "Um… I'm sorry." she said awkwardly, trying to subtly scoot the blankets of her unmade bed over the dog hiding underneath.

"I mean, he said that he doesn't do all that stuff, but still… I can tell he— he thinks it's interesting…the dark arts... and it terrifies me. He's my best friend! I don't want him getting mixed up in all that!" Lily continued. Adelaide didn't know the right words to say, so instead gave her a sympathetic look. "Look at me going on and on," Lily chuckled to herself. "How did your detention date go?" she smirked.

A blush bloomed across Adelaide's cheeks. "Um… it um… well It wasn't… erm…"

"I know you fancy him, Addy." Lily said, trying to put her friend out of her stammering misery. "And I'm fairly certain he fancies you too." she winked.

"Oh… you have no idea…" she muttered under her breath. A weird snort like noise came from under the bed, and Adelaide tried to cover it by faking a cough.

"Are you getting sick?" Lily asked with concern.

"Um… maybe…" she faked another cough.

"Oh, well I'll let you get some rest then." Lily said kindly, moving to head out the door. She was just about to close the door behind her when she paused to look back at Adelaide. "Um… by the way, James said he was really sorry… said you would know what about."

Adelaide had honestly forgotten all about how much of an immature arse her honorary big brother was being earlier. "Oh, um… thanks." Lily nodded then shut the door behind her.

After a few seconds, Adelaide let out a breath she didn't know she was holding, and Sirius came scurrying out from under the bed with a mischievous smile. "Lily was right, I _am_ fairly certain I fancy you." he smirked, moving in to give his girlfriend another quick kiss on the lips.

"Oh boy… we're going to have to tell them all…" Adelaide said, looking a little overwhelmed.

"Well… we can do that later." Sirius said sweetly, "For now, let's just work on getting you a jumper to wear that doesn't belong to another guy…" he said with a look of slight disgust, pinching the fabric of the oversized grey jumper that was formerly the property of Remus John Lupin.

"He said I could have it!" she defended.

"Please just humor me, love."

Adelaide groaned and rolled her eyes. "Fine."

Quickly, they made their way down to the common room via slide, (why walk down all those stairs when you can have your cute boyfriend turn them into a slide?) and tried to hurry up to the boys dorm before James cornered them. Luckily, James had begun to play a game of chess with Peter at a table in the common room, whilst Remus read his book on the couch beside them.

Adelaide and Sirius hurried up the stairs and into the boys dorm, then began digging through his trunk for a jumper that she could wear.

"Did you get more of these over the summer?" Adelaide asked, noticing just how many he had that she hadn't seen last year.

"Um… maybe…" he said a little shyly. Little did she know, he only got them in hopes that she would want to wear them.

"Ooo! I like this one!" she said, holding up an orange sweatshirt.

Sirius smirked. "I think it would look great on you."

Adelaide smiled, then realized it was a chuddly cannons sweatshirt. "UGH! NO!" she screeched, chunking it across the room immediately as if it was a poisonous bug.

After ten more minutes of sifting through the contents of Sirius's wardrobe, Adelaide bounced down the stairs to the common room, smiling and wearing a soft black jumper that smelled just like Sirius .

They sat down on the couch near the boys, earning a strange look from all three. James made Sirius take his place in his chess match against Peter so he could talk to Adelaide.

"Listen Ads, I'm really sorry… I didn't mean to upset you…" he said guiltily. "I was just so excited…"

Adelaide looked at him in pleasant disbelief. "Excited?"

"Well yeah… I mean you two are just so… so good together…" he shrugged, pushing his glasses up with his finger. "I guess I got a little carried away— Hang on, weren't you wearing Remmy's jumper earlier?" he asked with a smirk.

"I was…" she said slowly.

"And now you're wearing Sirius's?" he asked, smirk widening as he saw her begin to blush.

"Yes… why do my outfit choices matter so much to you all the sudden?"

James looked at her, then to Sirius, then back to her with a grin. "You _did_ snog… didn't you?" he said wiggling his eyebrows. Adelaide's face burned bright red.

"Is this oaf bothering you, Ads?" Sirius asked, squishing in between the two after losing James's chess match against Peter.

Still in shock by the bluntness of James's question, Adelaide stayed silent.

"Prongs! Look what you did! You broke her!" Sirius complained jokingly.

"Speaking of breaking things…" James said, suddenly becoming much more serious, pointing at the boy next to him intimidatingly. "I don't care if you are my brother, Addy is my sister, and if you _ever_ hurt her…"

"James, calm down." Adelaide sighed.

"Yeah Prongs, I'm not going to hurt my girlfriend— Oh shit." Sirius paled, but James looked about ready to burst. "Shit shit shit _shit_!"

Adelaide grabbed a pillow from the couch and started beating Sirius with it mercilessly, ignoring James's happy moment. "YOU—IDIOT— YOU COULDN'T GO— FIVE MINUTES!" she screamed between whacks, earning many a disapproving look from the other Gryffindors in the room trying enjoying their calm Saturday afternoon.

Sirius didn't even fight back, he knew he screwed up.

"What the hell?!" Remus exclaimed, putting his book down and trying to figure out what in the world was going on.

"—YOU— BIG MOUTHED— IDIOT!"

"Woah! Seriously, what's going on?!" Remus asked.

"They're together!" James squealed.

Adelaide paused in panic.

"Together?" Remus echoed in confusion.

"You know… _Together_ , dating, going steady, boyfriend and girlfriend—"

"JAMES SHUT UP!" Adelaide screamed, moving her pillow whacking aim to him.

"Aww… about time!" Peter said happily in the background with a dopey smile.

"Wait— Really?" Remus asked, looking to Sirius who still look guilty as ever that he'd spilled the beans. "Padfoot, is he telling the truth?"

Sirius nodded.

"About freaking time." Remus sighed.

This was about the time when Mary, Lily, and Marlene walked in on the verbal berating Adelaide was giving James between pillow whacks.

"YOU ARE— SUCH AN— ARSE JAMES POTTER!" Adelaide continued to scream furiously. "WIPE THAT STUPID— LOVABLE— GRIN OFF YOUR FACE!"

James caught Lily's eye as she walked in, and forgot all about Adelaide. "Hey Evans! Ommph! Did you hear the good news!?"

This yanked Sirius out of his pity party. He quickly tackled James onto the ground for the second time that day, throwing his hands over his mouth to shut him up.

"Don't. Let her tell them." he said, pinning him to the ground.

"Tell us what?" Lily asked in confusion, noticing Adelaide's wardrobe change.

"Erm… uh… well um…"

"They're tog—" Peter's next words were muffled by Remus's hand.

Marlene somehow began to put the pieces together. "It _was_ a date, wasn't it!" she exclaimed, taking Adelaide's silence and bright red face as confirmation.

"Addy, do you want me to just tell them?" Sirius whispered, standing up as James seemed to have calmed down.

"Uh… um… y-yeah."

Sirius nodded. "We're dating." he said calmly.

"Dating?!" Mary squealed in a frequency that seemed too high a pitch for any human to be able to create.

"Wait! When— when did this happen?!" Lily asked, gobsmacked.

"Erm… well um… I'd say right before you came in screaming for your book." Sirius informed her.

"How did you— YOU WERE UP THERE?!"

"I had the door locked." Adelaide mumbled.

"WHY DID YOU NEED THE DOOR LOCKED?!" Lily asked incredulously.

Marlene smirked. "So they could snog in peace, of course."

Adelaide's face went an even brighter shade of red. "I think I need some air." she muttered, eyes glancing over to Mary squealing like a piglet, then hurrying out the common room without another word.

"Addy wait!" Sirius called out behind her, running to catch up. "Ads! I'm so sorry!" he called out desperately.

Adelaide slowed her steps so he could catch up with her. "It's okay." she mumbled as he finally jogged up to her side as she wandered aimlessly down the halls.

"No, it's not. You were so worried about telling them, and I screwed it all up…" he said miserably. "I've been your boyfriend for less than an hour and I've already managed to screw something up! UGH! I'm such an _effing disappointment!_ " he exclaimed, kicking a nearby wall.

Worried by his quickly dissolving state, Adelaide led him to sit on a bench in a nearby alcove. "Siri, don't say that." she said gently, cupping his face in her hands. "You are not a disappointment." she said, kissing him on the forehead. "You didn't screw anything up. Perhaps you could have been a bit more tactful, but we would have had to tell them anyway… Actually, I think it's better we got it over with as quick as we did." she chuckled lightly, giving him a reassuring smile.

Sirius looked up at her with an unreadable expression. "How do you do that?" he asked calmly.

Adelaide furrowed her brows. "How do I do what?"

"How do you— how do you know how to calm me down like that?"

"Magic?" she shrugged, smiling softly at him. "Now, if I let you go, are you going to start kicking the walls again?"

"I promise, I'm done kicking walls." he chuckled as she released her hands from his face. "Thank you, Ads."

"For what?"

"For making me feel better when I was a total idiot."

"Isn't that what girlfriends are for?" she smirked.

* * *

"Nope. No no no… Not happening." Sirius said stubbornly arms crossed over his chest.

"Siri pleeeeaaassseeee!?" Adelaide begged, looking up at him with big forest green puppy dog eyes.

"UGH! Fine. But just this once!"

Adelaide squealed and dragged him by the hand toward forbidden territory… the Slytherin table of the great hall.

"Hey Mate! You having breakfast with us?" Evan asked happily.

It was Sunday, the day after Adelaide and Sirius had become 'official' and Adelaide was hoping to break the news to Regulus and Evan with Sirius by her side, plus she wanted to ease the tension between them…

"Yes, he is!" Mary said happily, sitting beside Evan, much to his delight. He was beginning to be able to have actual conversations with the bubbly brunette and always welcomed her presence.

Regulus looked suspicious. "You never sit with us…" he said to Sirius quietly while Adelaide chattered with Mary and Evan.

"Well Addy begged, sooo…"

A smirk found its way on Regulus's lips. "She just has you wrapped around her little finger."

"Please don't make me regret coming over here." Sirius sighed.

"Okay! So… erm… I have some uh… news…" Adelaide began awkwardly after a while. "Good news… erm…" she looked to Sirius for help.

Sirius smiled at how adorably awkward she was. "We're dating."

"That's great!" Evan cheered, flashing his dazzling smile, making Mary swoon in the process.

Regulus looked unsurprised, but also as if he was masking his true emotions… Adelaide was always perceptive of his tendency to do so when he was worried. "Reggie?" Adelaide began softly.

"I'm happy for you, Addy…I really am…" he said kindly.

"But?"

"But, I think this was a pretty rash thing to do… I mean, do your parents even know?"

"Who cares what her parents think?!" Sirius said passionately.

"I think she will if they punish her for being with a blood traitor." Regulus said venomously.

"Reggie!" Adelaide scolded.

"Oh this _again_!" Sirius said with a humorless laugh. "You really need to stop listening to everything Mummy and Daddy say little brother!"

"And end up disappointing them like you? No thank you!"

"Both of you! Stop it!" Adelaide demanded, but her words fell on deaf ears as the Black brothers argument intensified.

Regulus's choice of words stung, but Sirius wouldn't let him know. "Sorry I'm not the perfect junior death eater son! How are those lessons with ol' Voldy going by the way?!"

"Woah, let's just calm down mates."

"Shut up Evan!" Sirius spat, before returning his attention to his brother. "Why don't you tell Addy what Riddle teaches you in those little lessons of yours?! Or better yet," he said with another humorless laugh, "What you call her friends behind their backs!"

Adelaide looked to Regulus in confusion, but he looked impassive. "Reggie, what is he talking about?" she asked quietly, quite aware of the attention they had drawn to themselves.

"I didn't have a choice Addy…" Regulus said in a forced tone. " I didn't— I couldn't just say no."

"Say no to what? What are you talking about?"

"Voldy made him learn dark magic." Sirius spat venomously. "And he called Lily a—"

"I didn't mean it Addy!" Regulus said with a bit more emotion.

Adelaide became eerily calm. "What did you call her, Reggie?" she asked, knowing and dreading the answer.

"I-I— I didn't mean it! I like Lily! She's my friend!"

"What did you call her?!"

"Addy please! You know I would never—"

"WHAT DID YOU CALL HER?!" Adelaide shouted, sick of his prattling on.

Regulus looked overcome by shame. "I-I called her a Mudblood." he said quietly.

"I need to go." Adelaide muttered, climbing out of her seat quickly as Evan and Mary watched in shock.

"Addy wait! Please! I swear I didn't mean it!" Regulus exclaimed in desperation.

Tears welled up in her eyes, threatening to spill. How could her little Reggie say something so horrible about a girl he'd been friends with for years. "Sirius, can we please just go." she said, voice cracking, not caring where they went as long as it wasn't there.

"Of course, love." he said quietly, grabbing some toast and leading her out of the great hall to the courtyard.

They sat on a bench in silence for a long few minutes, until Sirius couldn't take it any longer. "Addy, I'm so sorry… I didn't mean to—"

"Please just shut up and hand me that toast." Adelaide said in a small voice, looking down as she extended her hand for said toast.

After a few nibbles, Adelaide finally looked up at Sirius. "You didn't tell me." she said softly. "You knew about the marriage thing, and him doing dark magic, and the m-word, and you didn't tell me. Why?"

"He's your friend. I didn't want to be the one to ruin your friendship… I-I shouldn't have blown up on him like that… It wasn't fair to him—"

"He called her a mudblood." Adelaide said softly, still weirdly emotionless. "When? Why?"

Sirius sighed. "The day before we came back to school. Our parents brought her up in some conversation, I don't even know how they knew who she was."

Adelaide nodded, but remained quiet.

"Addy, I'm so sorry… I didn't mean to screw up our breakfast with them… I know you were looking forward to it… I just can't stand the stuff he says sometimes."

"I forgive you." she mumbled.

Sirius wrapped an arm around her. "Are you going to forgive Reg?" he asked softly.

"I haven't decided yet."


	75. Chapter 75

**Chapter 75- Can We Talk?**

Sunday afternoon, Regulus stood outside the painting of the fat lady with his hands in his pockets, pacing back and forth past the entrance. How had everything gone so wrong so quickly? Why had he said such stupid and hurtful things? Everyone always thought that Sirius was the only one with a temper and a tendency to speak without thinking, but it was something they both struggled with. Regulus just tried harder to control it.

"Deary, are you going to knock or something?" the fat lady in the portrait asked kindly.

Regulus glanced up at her, face cold and emotionless. "I-I don't know..." he said quietly.

It seemed like a good plan when he made the hike up there, but now he was beginning to have doubts. Would she even want to talk to him? Would she hex him? Yell at him? Hate him forever? Given the things he had said and done, he wouldn't blame her.

He was just about to leave when the ever-bubbly Mary McDonald stepped out the portrait hole, nearly knocking him over.

"Woah! Reggie! I'm sorry, didn't mean to run you over!" she chuckled, smiling at him sadly. After everything went up in flames that morning, she stayed behind and tried to console him, telling him that Addy was the most forgiving person she knew... once you break through her stubbornness that is.

"It's fine..." he mumbled, dark grey eyes fixed firmly on his shoes.

"Um... Addy left a while back— went to do some therapeutic rule breaking with Sirius I think..." she said tentatively, wondering just how long he'd been out there and taking in his sad state. His normally neat hair was a disheveled mess, his eyes seemed sullen and dark, and his normal sassy demeanor was decidedly somber and cold. To be honest, he reminded her a lot of Adelaide when she was in a funk.

"Oh... I um... I wasn't here for Addy." he clarified. Mary looked confused. "I came to see Lily."

"Oh! Erm... She's just inside working on some assignments, do you want me to grab her?"

Well if there ever were a sign that this was the right thing to do, this was it. "um... Yes, please."

Mary went back inside and not two minutes later, Lily appeared, dark red hair tied up in a ponytail, looking a little frazzled, but not unhappy.

"Hi Reggie! I was just about to owl you!" she said with a smile .

"Erm... you were?" he asked in confusion.

"Yes! I just finished editing your ancient runes paper and was going to figure out a good time to go over everything with you." she said, finally taking in his somber state. "Is there something wrong?"

Regulus just looked at her in quiet disbelief. Could she really not know what he had called her? He remembered how upset Addy had been when Evan accidentally used the M-Word; all her friends knew within the hour. It was past lunch at this point, surely she would have told the others by now. "A-addy didn't tell you?"

Lily furrowed her brows. "Tell me what?"

"Umm..."

He could take this opportunity to just leave, talk about something else, anything but say what he actually came there to say. But, it was thinking like that that got him into this mess. No, he would have to embrace some of the Gryffindor courage the sorting hat saw in him years ago and do the right thing.

"Lily, I need to talk to you... not about homework..." he said, heart beating harder with just the thought of how she might react. They had become pretty good friends the year before due to all the time she spent around Addy and Sev, and he was forever grateful for her homework help... she was almost as good a tutor as James.

But more than that, she was a genuinely kind and lovely person and he just liked being around her. She was nothing like any of his friends in Slytherin. It would hurt knowing she probably wouldn't be his friend anymore when he was finished, but she deserved to know the truth.

Despite being concerned and thoroughly confused, Lily nodded and led him toward a nearby bench. "What's this about Reggie, you look awfully troubled..."

Regulus took a deep steadying breath, hands clammy and shaky. "Lily I-I did something horrible— said something unforgivable..." he began, forcing himself to look up to her bottle green eyes, feeling as if he would evaporate from the intensity of her worried gaze.

"Reggie, whatever it is, I'm sure it's not unforgivable." she said kindly. Why did she have to be so kind? It was making everything a billion times harder for him.

"I'm afraid it might be..." he said softly. "Lily, I called you a—I-I called—I called you a mud-blood and I'm so sorry!" he said, lip quivering and tears threatening to fall. Lily just looked back at him in surprise. "I'm so so so sorry! I didn't mean it, I swear!" he said, sniffling a little as a few rebel tears fell down his cheeks. "It was before school started, and I was with my parents, and I— I just— I don't even know why I said it! I think I just wanted them to be proud of me or something— It was absolutely disgusting though and I never should have done it!" he said, now furiously wiping away tears with the hem of his sleeve. "I'm so s-sorry."

Of all the things he had anticipated happening as a result of this little speech, Lily hugging him as he cried on her shoulder was not one of them.

"Shhh... Reggie. It's okay. I forgive you." she said soothingly as she rubbed his back. Why was she forgiving him? He had used that horrible degrading word against her. And not even by accident like Evan!

"Bu-but why?" he hiccuped, breaking apart to study her face for a trace of a lie that wasn't there. "I don't deserve it..."

"Regulus. It takes an incredible amount of courage to own up to something like that. And I'm a firm believer that everyone deserves a second chance." she said with a reassuring smile. "Besides, if you really thought I was a muddy whatever I doubt you would have come talk to me at all."

Regulus just looked at her in awe for a moment, reveling in her uncommon kindness... until his thoughts circled back to another Gryffindor girl. "A-addy hates me..." he said softly, looking down at his hands. "Sirius and I got into a huge fight over breakfast and now she hates me... and I don't blame her..."

"Listen. Adelaide hates a lot of things. Asparagus, exercise, useless homework, the Chuddly Cannons... but her 'Little Reggie' is not one, and will never be." Lily smiled.

"I hate that nickname..." he muttered with the smallest hint of a smile.

"Yes, well... she still sees you as her little brother... She loves you, and I promise that she'll come around—"

"No, you don't understand. She was _SO_ mad at me Lily... I-I," Regulus scrunched his eyes closed. "I called my brother a blood-traitor, and a disappointment... and he— he told her stuff... told her how I did dark magic..."

Lily gasped at his confession.

Regulus looked up at her in desperation. "I didn't want to do dark magic though! He-he made me!"

Lily looked at him with confused concern, trying to understand who could possibly make him do something like that. "Who? Who would make you do that?"

Regulus hesitated, face morphing, suddenly looking much more worn than any fourteen year old's face should. "The guy who knocked Addy off her broom at her first Quidditch game."

Horror. That's the only word that could possibly describe the look on Lily Evans's face.

"Who—"

"I can't really talk about it..." he mumbled, looking down. He had already said too much.

"I'm sure if Addy knew—"

"She does know..." he said softly. "Lily, I really don't expect her to forgive me... and I'm okay with it, honestly... I just— I just wanted to do the right thing for once and apologize to you."

* * *

After a day full of cathartic pranking, including creating a waterside down a second floor corridor, turning the dungeon hallway to the Slytherin dorms into a putrid smelling swamp, and charming the clothes of the portrait of Salazar Slytherin into something that would be found in a disco tech, Adelaide and Sirius walked into the great hall for dinner.

Adelaide sat beside Sirius with her back to the Slytherin table, and stayed unusually quiet throughout the meal. The other boys knew she was upset with Regulus, but they didn't know any of the specifics, and knew better than to press the matter.

Half-listening to Sirius prattle on about their day, she moved her food around with her fork, mind wandering back to Regulus. How could he say such nasty things to his brother and about Lily? They never spoke outright about his views on blood status, but she doubted he really agreed with the stuff his parents spewed out. But after the way he spoke that morning...It was like she didn't know him at all.

What's more, the bright shiny beginning to her relationship with Sirius had been effectively ruined. Sure, she humored him with his little plan to cheer her up with mischief-making, but all she really wanted to do was be alone and focus on something she could control: school.

"Oh it was awesome! You should have seen Avery's face when he got stuck in a bog! He'll be smelling like sewage for weeks I swear!" Sirius bark-like laugh rumbled beside her, recounting their adventures to James and the others.

"Hey, Addy... Do you want my mashed potatoes?" Peter offered from where he sat across from Adelaide, trying to cheer her up in the only way he could think of.

Adelaide gave him a sad smile and nodded, letting him scoop them onto her plate.

"I'm sorry you got in a row with Reg... But for what it's worth, he looks even more miserable than you right now." he added.

"Good." she said with her mouth full, not even looking up.

"So lady like..." Sirius smirked, nudging her side.

Adelaide spared a glare at him before tucking back into her food.

"Real charmer you got there Padfoot!" James chuckled. "How are the fan-girls taking the news?"

Sirius made a noncommittal shrug.

 _"Fan girls?"_ Adelaide asked, looking up at long last.

"It's what they call all of Sirius's admirers..." Remus explained quietly.

Adelaide frowned.

"Lydia Green looks rather annoyed, don't you think?" James said with a smirk, nodding toward the Ravenclaw table.

Without really thinking, Sirius looked up and caught a glimpse of the grabby ginger that made Adelaide so jealous, then leaned over to Adelaide and gave his much prettier girlfriend a kiss on the temple.

For probably the first time since breakfast Adelaide smiled a genuine smile, looking up at him. To her surprise, Sirius swooped in for a quick kiss on the mouth, causing the boys to groan.

"Mmm mashed potatoes!" he grinned, looking at Adelaide's bright red face and small smile in accomplishment.

"Knock it off! Go snog somewhere else!" James grumbled while Remus looked pointedly down at his fish, and Peter looked semi-traumatized.

"I thought you were _excited_ that we were snogging?!" Adelaide asked, feigning innocence.

"I was! I still am! But for Merlin's sake, I don't want to _watch_ it" James exclaimed.

Sirius smirked. "So, just so we're clear, Prongs... it bothers you when I do this—" Sirius leaned in, placing his hand at the base of Adelaide's head and placed several semi-passionate kisses upon her lips, leaving her blushing like crazy and a little breathless.

"STOP! STOP! STOP! MY EYES!" James yelled, causing quite a scene as he threw his hands over his face.

Adelaide watched in satisfaction as Lydia Green huffed out of the great hall.

* * *

With a gasp, Sirius awoke early Monday morning from a truly terrifying dream; He was being chased around by a gigantic Erumpet sized Dorris. Breathing heavy and eyes blurry, he pushed himself up slightly on his elbows to read the clock on his nightstand: 3:17am. With a loud sigh, he slumped back onto the bed and turned over to get more comfortable... that's when he saw her.

Hunched over his desk, furiously scribbling by the dim light of an enchanted bluebell flame, was his sweet new girlfriend— White blonde hair tied up in a messy bun, fingers ink stained, and dark circles under her eyes clearly visible even in the dim light.

"Addykins?" he croaked, sitting up only to realize she had tucked the real Dorris in with him while he was sleeping. "Ahh!"

Adelaide shot him a dirty look as she watched her prized possession fly across the room, landing on a pile of Peter's dirty laundry. "Why are you throwing Dorris?! You know she's been in a very fragile state since I spilt ink on her again." Adelaide scolded in a whisper.

"It's three in the morning, Addy. What are you doing?"

Adelaide's eyes shifted back to her parchment and book, body tense. "Homework."

Sirius frowned. She was in the exact same spot she'd been in when he went to bed. He really thought she would have gone back up to her room by now. "Have you slept at all?"

Adelaide squirmed in his desk chair. "Yes." she said in a high voice, already returning to her quill scratching.

A loud breath escaped Sirius's lips. He knew she hadn't slept. "Addy, go to sleep. Here, you can have my bed, I'll sleep in the sleeping bag." he said, lumbering to try to get out of the bed.

"No. I'm working on this... just go back to sleep." she said waving a dismissive hand in his direction.

This was what she always did when she was really upset about something. She would pour herself into school to the point of madness, just to distract herself from the storm of emotions and thoughts within. Sirius hoped that distracting her throughout the day would be enough to avoid this sort of situation, or at the very least would tire her out so she'd go to bed anyway. But apparently it hadn't.

With a frown, he pulled his feet over the side of the bed then sighed. "This is about Reg, isn't it?"

Adelaide didn't answer, nor did she look up from her homework.

"Addy, I overreacted earlier... I took things too far—"

"—I don't want to talk about this right now—"

"—It was wrong of me to bring all that up like I did... I was just upset, and annoyed that he would bring your parents into it..."

"Please just stop—"

"No, Addy listen... He likes Lily... and I _know_ he hates Riddle as much as we do, maybe even more—"

"He called you a blood-traitor, Sirius." she said placing her blue quill down in its inkwell, finally turning to face him. "He called you a blood-traitor and he called Lily a Mudblood." she said resolutely. "Now, please just stop. I said, I don't want to talk about it." she whispered, eyes glassy, and the lump in her throat burning from the tears she was holding hostage along with her feelings.

"Addy, you _need_ to talk about it... You're a mess when you hold things in, always have been." he said gently.

He was right, of course, and Adelaide knew it. "I-I just don't want to talk about it yet..." she said with a few tears breaking free which she quickly tried to wipe away.

In one swift motion, Sirius held her hand and led her to sit on the bed beside him. Without another word, he gently wrapped his arm around her, sitting with her in silence for several minutes while she tried to calm herself down.

"We really pissed off Avery today..." Adelaide whispered, breaking the silence.

"That we did." Sirius smirked. "Avery and that annoying Ravenclaw girl." he winked.

Adelaide grinned at the thought, then leaned against him in silence for a minute or two more... thoughts wandering. "I'm sorry I'm always such a mess..." she said quietly.

"What?" Sirius was genuinely confused on where this was coming from.

"I feel like I'm always just falling apart, and you're the one who ends up having to put the pieces back together..." she mumbled, playing with her sleeve. "It's— it's not really fair... I should be able to do things on my own..."

"Addy, I don't mind putting the pieces back together... I like being able to be there for you..." he said quietly.

"Well... still... I want to be there for you too..." she said fidgeting a little.

"You already are." Sirius said pulling her closer and kissing the top of her head.

Adelaide looked up at him. "No, but really. If there's something I can do... just tell me..."

"Well, if you learned how to make pancakes, I think I might die of happiness..." he smirked, but being completely honest.

Adelaide nodded, eyes fluttering closed against her will as she melted into Sirius's side, feeling so safe and warm. "I'll work on that." she said with a smile.

"Okay, you ready to go to sleep now?" Sirius asked, smiling at her feeble attempts to keep her eyes open.

"mhmmph..."

"I'll take that as a yes..." he smiled, inching away from her to grab the sleeping bag from under James's bed. When he finally had everything situated, he glanced over to Adelaide and saw her curled up in a ball, fast asleep on his bed.

* * *

The next day, Adelaide made her way to the great hall sporting some large purple circles under her eyes, feeling less like a girl, and more like a zombie. Good news was, she finished all her homework and assignments for the next week in her manic attempt to avoid her feelings.

As she dragged her feet to the Gryffindor table to sit with the other girls, her path was stopped by a relatively tall boy in a green and silver tie.

"Addy, can we talk?" the boy asked hesitantly.

She seriously considered saying no and pushing past to go eat her oatmeal, but she knew this particular Slytherin had a knack for being annoyingly persistent. "Fine, but I want to grab some—"

"I already got you some oatmeal." the boy grinned, flashing his dazzling smile and holding up the bowl of oatmeal, cinnamon, and apples.

"You think of everything, don't you Rosier?" she said, shaking her head slowly with a small smile.

"I do my best." he replied, walking with her to sit down.

"Erm... can we sit at my table? It's always empty at the end...and I don't really want to be by Reggie..." she asked in a mumble.

Evan was hesitant. Sometimes if felt like no matter how nice he was to the Gryffindors, they still seemed a little weary of him. But, he really wanted to talk to her, so he complied, turning to sit near the far end of the Gryffindor table.

"So, I um... I just wanted to know how you were doing... after everything yesterday." he began.

Adelaide shrugged, swirling her spoon in her bowl. "I'm still upset with him, if that's what you're trying to get at."

Evan frowned. "Have you talked to Lily?"

"No, I haven't really talked to anyone besides Sirius... he— he feels bad about bringing up everything the way he did."

"I didn't know Sirius Black felt remorse..." Evan smirked.

"He has his moments." she smiled.

Evan's next words were cut off by the presence of a sixth year Gryffindor boy, looking a little unnerved by Adelaide's present company. "Um... Hey LP... erm... Quidditch trials are tomorrow afternoon, and I just wanted to make sure you're still trying out again."

"Sure thing Woody!" she said through a mouthful of oatmeal, gracing him with a dismissive wave. Blake Wood seemed all too happy to leave the two.

"I don't think he likes me..." Evan said with a frown.

"He would if he knew you. You both have terrible taste in Quidditch teams." she teased. "So, why did you ask if I'd talked to Lily?" she asked, looking at him with a curious expression.

"Well, because Reg said he was going to try to apologize to her... he was gone for hours. Finally came back and he looked like he'd been crying."

Adelaide's spoon clanked onto the table. "What?"

Evan wiped off a bit of oatmeal that landed on his robes. "Yeah. He's been so torn up about everything. He was up all night working on homework in the common room... Can't even talk to his dorm mates about it because well... they wouldn't understand."

"I think they'd have a lot in common actually..." she said nastily.

"Addy, he didn't mean what he said. He was just upset about you and Sirius getting together..." Adelaide's eyes grew wide and Evan realized how that must have sounded. "Not like that! I mean— I don't think so... He seemed genuinely happy about you two finally getting together, but I think it worries him that it could put your safety in jeopardy."

Adelaide didn't really have a response to that. Honestly, it was something that was worrying her as well, especially since Sirius's very public displays of affection at dinner the night before. Avery would probably be thrilled to tell her mother all about her new relationship with 'that blood traitor', especially since Sirius punched him in the face last month.

"Addy, you don't have to forgive him... but will you at least talk to him?" Evan asked with pleading blue-green eyes.

"I'll think about it." she muttered. "Now, tell me how things are going with Mary?" she smirked, watching his face turn a little pink under his suntanned skin.

"Uh... well... we uh... We've been getting on quite well actually..." he said awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck and involuntarily smiling like an idiot.

"You going to ask her out again?" she asked slyly.

"Actually, I was thinking last night... and I well... I was wondering if maybe we could try going on a double date together... if she wants to of course—"

Adelaide squealed. "Of course she would want to! I think that's an awesome idea!" Front row seats for her and Sirius to watch their favorite almost couple be awkward for the day? Sign her up!

Evan seemed very much relieved by her response. "You think Sirius would be okay with it? I never really know where I stand with him..."

"Oh he'd _love_ it!" she squealed. "Oh my Merlin! You have to ask her!"

"Tell you what... let's make a deal... I'll ask Mary out on the double date if you talk to Reg."

"That's not fair!"

Evan gave her a smug look and half-shrugged. "We both need some incentive."

Adelaide groaned and rolled her eyes. "Fine. You have a deal, you sneaky snake." she said glowering at him mockingly. "But if you don't hold up your end of this, I swear to Salazar I will charm everyone of your shoes into hedgehogs!"

Evan gulped. "I'm sure you will." he muttered as Adelaide laughed.

Just then, a large black great horned owl with bright yellow eyes landed on the table between them, gingerly placing a bright red smoking envelope in front of Adelaide, then flying off in a rush, seemingly knowing what was going to happen next.

Adelaide stared at the envelope in shock. A howler. Someone must have made quick work of informing her dear mother. Her eyes flashed up, catching a glimpse of Evan's frightened face, Avery smirking at the Slytherin table, then finally turning to see Sirius laughing with the boys, completely unaware of what was about to be unleashed.

With a loud bang, the letter burst open of its own accord, drawing the attention of nearly everyone in the hall. "ADELAIDE ROSE FAWLEY! HOW _DARE YOU!_ YOU UNGRATEFUL CHILD! WE RAISED YOU BETTER THAN TO GO TRAIPSING AROUND LIKE SOME COMMON GOBLIN WITH THAT— _THAT BLOOD-TRAITOR_! IF YOU DO NOT GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER AND END WHATEVER RELATIONS YOU HAVE WITH THAT BOY, I SWEAR TO MERLIN I WILL YANK YOU OUT OF THAT BLOODY SCHOOL WITHOUT A SECOND THOUGHT!"

Then the letter blew up, leaving a small pile of ash on the table and the hall was eerily silent. All eyes were on her. Yet, Adelaide seemed frozen in place, staring at the pile of ash, unaware of the attention she was receiving.


	76. Chapter 76

**Chapter 76- I Will Fix This**

With her forest green eyes fixed on the last remnant of Cathryn Fawley's anger, Adelaide marveled at just how foolish she had been. The entire notion that she could date Sirius without any backlash was preposterous. Deep down she expected her mother to find out at some point, but so soon? Someone must have told her... and she had a very good idea of who that someone could be.

The growing sound of whispers spread through the hall like wildfire, causing her cheeks to burn as she realized they were all looking at her. Her eyes scanned the room until they landed on Micheal Avery, smirking and laughing at the Slytherin table. Almost as if he was expecting it, they made eye contact and he sent her a wave, smirking ever wider alongside his goons.

Avery. The boy who harassed her for the entirety of the last school year, assaulted her over the summer, and who had a proven record of snitching on her to Crazy Cathryn.

She vaguely noticed Sirius as he whispered in her ear, urging her to leave. "Come on, Addykins... let's get you out of here..."

Abruptly, Adelaide let out a humorless laugh, eyes still fixed on the smirking Slytherin. "That bastard..." she hissed venomously under her breath, hand reaching for her wand. She clambered to her feet in an attempt to move toward the boy across the room, but ultimately she was rendered immobile, captive by Sirius's arms around her.

"Let me go!" she growled, fighting to get free.

There was no way she would let anyone—not that little twerp, or her mother, or anyone else for that matter—end her relationship with Sirius. If she was going to be kicked out of school because of it, why not make things a little easier? Why not get herself expelled for hexing Avery into the next century? Seemed perfectly rational

"LET ME GO!" she screamed, limbs flailing as she struggled to break free of Sirius's hold. "YOU SLIMY SNAKE! YOU TOLD HER, DIDN'T YOU!?" she yelled savagely in the Slytherin's direction.

Avery sneered even wider.

"YOU PIECE OF— HIPPOGRIFF— SHIT!"

Somehow, Sirius managed to get her to turn toward him. "Addy. I will fix this. But you need to get out of here. Trust me."

"YOU CAN'T FIX IT! HE RUINED EVERYTHING!" she yelled, eyes becoming blurry with tears of anger. "He ruined it a-all..." she said miserably.

* * *

The climb from the Great Hall to Gryffindor Tower went by in a blur, she didn't even really remember walking there. Her mind was much too preoccupied with figuring out the worst hexes possible to fling at Avery the next time they crossed paths. But, after a while, they did finally reach the boys dorm.

Sirius flew to his desk, and started furiously scribbling on parchment.

"Is Berwin around?" he asked, not looking up.

"You know, this really isn't the most opportune time for letter writing, Padfoot." she spat. "Why didn't you let me hex him?!"

"Because. You would've gotten yourself expelled." he muttered impatiently.

Adelaide scoffed rolling her eyes, becoming more and more annoyed with the fact that his attention was split between her and the stupid letter he was writing. "In case you didn't hear dear ol' mumsy earlier, I'm already going to be taken out of school."

"Only if we stay together..." he clarified.

"WE ARE NOT BREAKING UP JUST BECAUSE OF THAT EVIL WOMAN!"

"That's my girl." said Sirius with an audible smirk.

"Stop it! I'm still mad at you!"

"Okay, well can you be mad a bit quieter? I need to finish this—"

"Who the hell are you even writing?!" she exclaimed incredulously.

"Your dad. Now, either shush, or go fetch me that damn bird!"

Adelaide's mind skipped over the fact that he was writing her father, and instead focused on the idea that if she went to the owlry, there was a strong possibility she could run into Avery along the way...

"I'll go get Berwin." she said much too happily.

"If I find out you hexed Avery on your way, I will not kiss you for a month."

Her eyes went wide at the thought. "NO!" she protested. "SIRIUS! PLEASE! HE DESERVES IT!"

Sirius finally turned around with his hands on his hips. "Addy. I very much want to be your boyfriend, but the only way we can make that happen is to get your dad to help. NOW PLEASE JUST GO GET THE DAMN BIRD!"

"My dad can't do anything about this, Sirius!" she yelled.

Sirius sighed deeply, closing his eyes for a long few moments before finally walking forward and placing his hands on her shoulders. "Yes, he can. I talked to him at the end of last year Addy, at the train station."

"Yes? _And?"_

"I told him about the letter your mum wrote, saying she was going to punish you. He didn't know about it."

Adelaide really didn't see how this proved anything. _"So?"_

"Addy! Didn't you find it odd that he kept taking you to work with him the entire summer? He was tying to make sure you weren't alone in the house with her! He knows she's unhinged!"

"He doesn't care..." she said stubbornly, not completely believing her own words. Sirius stepped away in frustration, running his hands through his hair as he walked around the empty dorm.

"ADDY, HE DOES! I told him to let you see your friends—"

"And did that happen?! NO!"

"BUT HE GOT YOU BERWIN SO YOU COULD TALK TO THEM!" he bellowed, throwing his hands in the air in exasperation.

"Okay, he got me a bird? So what!? How is that going to fix—?!"

"I told him to put Reg on the list, Addy." Sirius said. "I told him to do whatever he had to to keep you safe and he has. He probably has no idea your mother even sent the howler. If I can just talk to him, I can fix this. You said so yourself he trusts me to keep you safe." he said, looking at her in desperation. "Please Addy. I can fix this. I _will_ fix this. Please, just trust me."

Adelaide looked back at him with watery eyes, marveling at the lengths he would go for her. At the same time, she was having a difficult time believing that her father cared about her enough to help her out of this sticky situation. But then again, hadn't he proved he cared already? If what Sirius said was true, he had spent the whole summer trying to keep her safe from her mother's rage. Her mind flashed to the night he found her during her nightmare, how he held her, consoled her. Then again to the following night when he went against her mother and fixed the dress on her behalf. Maybe Sirius was right.

"I trust you." she said softly. "But I don't trust myself to go get Berwin without trying to hex Avery— and I very much want to still kiss you... So maybe we should walk down there together when you're done."

* * *

On Monday afternoon Filip Fawley was home, taking the day off to handle the arrangements for the meeting to take place at their home that night. Mr. Riddle had a very important announcement to make and they were the lucky ones graced with the honor of hosting. Something that made Cathryn Fawley more intolerable than usual.

Ever since Mr. Riddle nearly killed Adelaide with his Quidditch stunt, just the mention of his name was enough to put Cathryn on edge. In all honesty, the only reason Filip stayed home was to make sure she didn't accidentally assault anyone in her anger.

The letter arrived an hour or so after breakfast. Filip instantly recognized Berwin, but the handwriting was much too neat to belong to his daughter... Not that she ever wrote him anyway. Intrigued, he opened the letter and scanned over the contents.

* * *

After the letter had been successfully sent, Adelaide and Sirius made it to their first class of the day a little later than usual. Luckily for them, they were experts at slipping in late to Potions. However, unluckily for them, they shared this lesson with a group of particularly gossipy Ravenclaws.

They sat in the back of the room and Sirius went over the instructions for the Wit-Sharpening Potion they were to brew, while Adelaide went to round up the ingredients. As she looked through the cluttered smattering of ingredients around the dank dungeon classroom, Adelaide could feel eyes watching her.

 _"Looks like little princess is going to be locked away in a tower…"_

 _"You know, I heard the only reason her mother was so upset was because they're arranging her marriage…"_

 _"How sad. The only way she can get anyone to actually want to date her is to force them. I bet she drugged poor Sirius with a love potion…"_

 _"She must have used a love charm. She's shite at potions."_

The hushed conversations of the two Ravenclaw girls beside her rang on and on. It took every ounce of self control for Adelaide to not charm the hair right off their heads with an instant scalping hex.

"You forgot the Armadillo Bile, love…" Sirius noticed.

"Sorry, I got a little distracted." Adelaide mumbled, as she slumped over the table.

Sirius glanced over to the sight of a few giggling Ravenclaws near where the ingredients were placed, then got up to grab the bile himself.

"Hey Sirius," a brunette girl giggled.

Annoyed, Sirius gave the girl an aloof glance of acknowledgment, then continued his search.

 _"See? I told you, that little Veela slut must have used a love charm…"_ the dirty blonde girl beside her hissed.

 _"How desperate do you have to be…"_

"Excuse me?" Sirius asked, turning to face the gossiping duo.

"Nothing." the girls said in unison.

"Were you two doing that when she was over here too?" he asked sternly, nodding toward Adelaide who was laying with her head on the table.

"Doing what?" the brunette asked, batting her lashes innocently.

Sirius frowned. "Doing that annoying thing where you bad mouth my girlfriend."

Both girls looked shocked by his bluntness. "I don't know what you're—"

"You know, if you got those Ravenclaw heads of yours out of your arses, you might actually be able to see that she's a lovely person… unlike yourselves." Sirius said casually, looking down his nose at their cauldron. "Oh, and you weren't supposed to add the bile until the potion turns green… just for your information."

Adelaide watched Sirius saunter back to his seat looking rather pleased with himself. "What the hell did you say to those hags? They look more embarrassed than Peter that time he made it all the way to breakfast before realizing he forgot to put on pants." she giggled in disbelief.

"They do look a bit shaken don't they." he smirked, getting started on the potion.

"No, really! What did you say?"

"I told them you were a lovely person." he said with a wink.

* * *

As the day went by, Adelaide had almost forgotten about the event's of that morning… almost.

The whisperings of jealous girls with nothing better to discuss than her misfortune were becoming a constant presence. However, with every instance, Adelaide's restraint dwindled just a bit more like the slow burning of a fuse before it finally ignites.

 _"Did you see how crazy she looked yelling at that bloke at breakfast…"_

 _"Yeah, she sounded just like that screaming woman from the howler…"_

 _"I bet she's cheating on him with that Slytherin she was sitting with…"_

 _"No, I heard she's cheating on him with his little brother…"_

"SHUT UP! JUST SHUT UP!" Adelaide screamed at a couple of third year Gryffindors whispering behind her as she made her way back to the tower from her last class of the day.

 _"See what I mean… she's barking mad…"_

Adelaide pulled out her wand, and before Remus had a chance to stop her, she pointed it toward the two girls and said, "Avis."

"ARRAGGGG! YOU HORRIBLE GIRL! I'M TELLING McGONAGALL!" a girl screamed as a flock of birds began mercilessly pecking at her and pulling her hair.

"Please do! It's been a while since Minnie and I have had a proper chat!" Adelaide said sweetly, bouncing up the stair to the girl's dorm. "Toodles!"

* * *

"He still hasn't replied." Adelaide muttered, pacing back and forth in the girls dorm, gnawing on a licorice wand. "It's been all day and he still hasn't said anything..."

"Can you please explain to me why you think your dad is going to help in this?" Lily asked.

"Because— Because— he just will!" Adelaide replied huffily, catching a look at Marlene who was unusually quiet on the subject.

"But I thought he hated Sirius?" said Mary.

"I mean... he isn't his biggest fan... but it's not the same as with my mum." she muttered, fiddling with her candy as she walked.

"Don't get me wrong, I really hope this all works out… but what are you going to do if it doesn't? What if he agrees with your mum?" Lily asked.

"You can run away to my house!" Mary said happily. "We have an extra bedroom and everything! Oh and my mum makes the best mashed potatoes ever!"

Adelaide looked over at her kindhearted best friend and smiled. "I like that idea."

"You only like it because she's bribing you with food…" Lily smirked.

"That's only part of the reason Lily Flower." Adelaide winked.

After a few more laps across the room, Adelaide watched Lily leave to join Mary downstairs, taking a break from studying to play chess.

"FOR THE LOVE OF MERLIN, WOULD YOU STOP PACING?!" Marlene yelled out of nowhere, making Adelaide jump.

"Sorry..." she muttered. Adelaide turned to face the honey blonde who looked more rattled than she had ever seen her before. "Marlene... are you okay?"

"I-I'm fine! Just stop all that goddamn pacing!" she yelled. Her deep blue eyes held an emotion Adelaide couldn't quite place.

"You really don't look fine Marls..."

"I SAID I WAS FINE! JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!" she screamed viciously.

Adelaide swallowed hard, then left out the room without another word.

* * *

"Still no word from Fil, huh?" Remus said, opening the door to the boys dorm to let Adelaide in.

"Addykins!" Sirius cheered. "Wait, I thought you were hanging out with the girls?"

"I was. But Mary and Lily went to play chess downstairs and Marlene just flipped out and started screaming at me for no reason..." she said, flopping backward onto James's bed.

"Marlene? That's weird." James commented, thinking of a good excuse to go down to help Lily with her chess match.

"Very weird. She got mad at me for _pacing_ , but she looked... I dunno... She looked almost scared about something…"

"Think it has anything to do with her family?" Peter asked.

"Meh... maybe... probably... I dunno. Honestly, I have enough cauldron fires to put out as it is. Between this whole Howler situation and Reg, I don't really have the capacity to deal with whatever's making her act like a bitch right now." she sighed.

"Oh! Hey, don't forget, Quidditch trials are tomorrow—"

"Yes James, I know." Adelaide said impatiently.

James threw a dirty sock at her. "I was only reminding you!"

Adelaide sat up, throwing the dirty sock toward Sirius, charming it into a duck mid-way so that it landed in his arms with a quack.

Sirius's face lit up in delight. "WALLACE!"

Seeing his face glowing at the sight of a charmed duck felt like a knife to her heart. He looked just like Regulus when he was fussing over Merlin.

"Evan said Regulus was going to apologize to Lily..." Adelaide mumbled.

The boys, minus Sirius, all shared a look of confusion.

"Lily?" James asked with a definite edge to his voice. "Why did he have to apologize to her?!"

If James knew Regulus used that word against his precious Lily, he would never look at him the same. All the time James spent tutoring Regulus in transfiguration over the years had brought them together as pretty decent friends... a friendship Adelaide _knew_ that Regulus cherished. As angry as she was at Regulus, he couldn't bring herself to end that.

"Nothing, he's just being dramatic. Don't worry about it." She lied so convincingly that only Sirius knew it was anything but nothing.

"Did he? Apologize to her that is..." Sirius asked quietly.

"I dunno, Ev said he was gone for hours, then came back looking like he'd been crying..."

"Well, what did Lily say?"

Adelaide didn't respond.

"You didn't ask Lily, did you?" Sirius asked knowingly.

"In my defense, I've been a bit preoccupied…"

Remus scoffed. "Yeah, she had her hands full hexing those third year twats."

Adelaide smirked as she shrugged. "They deserved it."

"You better not miss out on quidditch trials because of a detent—" James tried to say.

"Addy! Bird!" Peter exclaimed through a mouthful of fudge flies, pointing frantically toward the window, nearly rolling off his bed.

Adelaide raced to open the window and let her sweet little bossy bird in, mentally preparing herself for the worst.

What would she do if her father sided with her mother? She couldn't imagine leaving Hogwarts… but she also couldn't imagine a life where she didn't have Sirius. Sure, they had only been dating a few days, but they had both waited so long to get to this point. She refused to give everything up just as everything started to finally go right. Which meant her only viable option really might be to run away…

"What are you doing? Open it!" James yelped.

Adelaide shook off her thoughts and finally looked down at the letter. "It's addressed to Sirius." she said, handing the envelope to the boy holding a duck.

Opening the letter with slightly shaking hands, Sirius read over her father's reply with an unreadable expression. His grey eyes read the page over and over, as if he was trying to make sure he wasn't missing something.

"It's bad news, isn't it?" said Adelaide in a strangled voice. Surely if it had been good news he would have smiled or something, right?

"He...um... well he said he would deal with your mum... smooth things over. Apparently she's been in a really bad mood lately..." Sirius said, eyes still on the page.

"Well that's good, right?" Peter commented.

"What did he say about us?" Adelaide asked, brows deeply furrowed and a slight pout at her lips.

Sirius sighed, running a hand through his hair with an anxious expression. "Erm… uh… he said he 'didn't find it a wise endeavor'…"

"What the bloody hell does that mean?" James asked.

Overwhelmed and annoyed, Adelaide charmed Wallace the duck back into a dirty sock, then curled up into a ball as tufts beside Sirius.

Remus gave Adelaide a sympathetic look. "It means he doesn't support them being together."

"But he didn't actually say we couldn't date… So, I think we're good for now…" Sirius said, looking at the little fluff ball of a cat snuggled up beside him.

Adelaide wasn't sure why she wasn't happier. This was good news, right? She got what she wanted. Except it wasn't everything she was really hoping for. Somewhere deep down, Adelaide hoped that her father would be supportive, that he would see how wonderful Sirius was and back up their relationship completely.

It was ridiculous and probably insane, but there was still a piece of Adelaide that longed for her parents to be proud of her, that yearned for their approval, for their love and support. She felt guilty for even entertaining these feelings, but it was like an immovable weight that she was cursed to carry no matter how awful they were to her.

A small nagging voice in the back of her mind said that perhaps a similar feeling led Regulus to do what he did. Maybe the real reason she was so upset was because she saw so much of herself in him. If she were in his situation, would she have done the same? In another life, she might have.


	77. Chapter 77

**Chapter 77- I Don't Hate Him**

It was a drizzly and disgusting Tuesday in early October, but that didn't stop Captain Blake Wood from going full steam ahead with Gryffindor Quidditch trials. It was almost a sure thing that Adelaide would make it onto the team this year after her success the year before, but for the sake of fairness, she still had to try out like everyone else.

The petite Gryffindor fourth year stood on the muddy field alongside her fellow chaser hopefuls and tied her long pale blonde hair up into a sad, wilted ponytail. The warming charm was helpful, but she still felt like a drowning cat. Looking out to the stands, she felt herself smile seeing her dramatic boyfriend holding a sign that had "GO ADDY THE BAD ASSY!" written in glowing crimson letters, standing alongside Mary, Lily, Remus, and Peter.

"Alright, you can do this Ads!" grinned the energetic gangly boy stretching beside her.

She rolled her eyes at his enthusiasm. "I know I can. I really don't need a pep talk—"

"Well too bad! You're getting one anyway!" James cheered, smiling aggressively. "It is my job as your best friend and—"

"—Really James, you're messing with my focus—"

"—honorary big brother to instill confidence in you, my honorary little sister, in your time of greatest need." he said importantly.

"James. Please. Just shut up and leave me alone."

"Remember you are a big ass— uh…um... _bad_ ass chaser—"

"Prongs, I'm warning you..."

"—All you have to do is focus on the Quaffle—the Quaffle is you, you are the Quaffle— be _one_ with the Quaffle—"

"This Quaffle is going to be one with your face if you don't shut up." Adelaide threatened through her teeth as she lifted said Quaffle in her hand.

James gulped. "Alright, mission accomplished... see you in the air." he muttered quickly, kicking off and shooting straight up to the sky above.

"Oi, Ads! How you holding up after all that nonsense yesterday?" asked fellow Chaser hopeful, Jack Middleton, as they waited to try their luck at shooting penalty shots.

Adelaide grinned. "Well enough to prank Avery this morning." she said happily, thinking back to Micheal Avery waddling around as a goose in a top hat between classes. It wasn't quite as satisfying since Remus was the one to cast the spell (the boys were afraid she'd get carried away), but it was better than nothing.

"I saw that," he said letting out a hearty laugh, dodging a stray bludger from one of the uncoordinated second years trying out for beater. "I also heard Sirius switched his shampoo with glue..." he smirked. "If you ever need any help, feel free to let me know... I can't stand that guy—"

"Actually! There's something I did want to run by you, but it's not about—"

"LP! YOU'RE UP!" called Wood.

Giving a 'we will continue this conversation later' look to Jack, Adelaide flew to her position and threw three perfect shots one after the other. She blushed as she listened to Sirius scream his head off in the stands. "YES! PERFECT! YOU SEE THAT BAD ASS OUT THERE?! YEAH, THAT'S MY GIRLFRIEND!"

"You have quite the fan base..." Jack smirked as she returned to his side, watching James fly up to do his throws.

"Just wait for it..." she said, holding up a hand, eyes on the curly headed boy .

James threw three flawless shots through the rungs and Sirius's voice rang through the air once again. "YES! SPECTACULAR PRONGSY! YOU SEE THAT BEAUTIFUL HUNK OF WIZARD OUT THERE?! THAT'S MY BEST FRIEND!" he screamed, pointing toward James, jumping up and down as James blew him a kiss.

"Merlin... The bromance is strong with those two..." Jack said in awe.

"I know, isn't it cute?" Adelaide giggled.

"Adorable." Jack laughed sarcastically.

As the trials continued, Adelaide, Jack, and James all executed their routes, throws, and passes with perfection. They were in the best of spirits despite being covered in mud as they made their way back up to the castle and up to Gryffindor tower. They gabbed the whole way about the trials as Sirius and the others followed a bit further behind them.

Adelaide raced toward the stairs to shower before dinner, but paused abruptly halfway up, sprinting back down to point dramatically at Jack. "Jack! Don't forget! Tomorrow night! After dinner!" she said with eyes narrowed and brows knitted together to convey the imperative nature of their scheme.

* * *

The next morning Adelaide could hardly make it out of bed. Every muscle in her body groaned and protested against movement. Somehow, with the help of Mary, she made it to the bathroom to get ready. They were headed down to breakfast when Adelaide realized Marlene was still in bed. It wasn't like Marlene to sleep in this late... or at all really...

"Hey Marls, you feeling okay?" Adelaide asked tentatively. The last time she asked this question Marlene nearly bit her head off... and the smirky blonde's mood hadn't exactly improved since then.

"I'm. Fine." an annoyed voice croaked.

"Well it's pretty late... if you're feeling bad I could grab you some breakfast or something..." Adelaide suggested, lazily tying her tie.

Marlene ducked further under her covers. "Just leave. Me. Alone." her blanket muffled voice demanded.

Something in her icy tone made it abundantly clear that it was better to just do what she said. "Look, you don't have to tell me what's wrong, but please stop acting like I'm the enemy... I was only trying to help." Adelaide said softly as she left, shutting the door behind her.

* * *

The smell of French Toast greeted Adelaide like an old friend as she entered the Great Hall that Wednesday. Her eyes were pulled toward the Slytherin table like a magnet. First, to Avery who seemed rightfully a little intimidated by her, despite his usual sneer, then to Regulus.

A little Reggie sized hole had been aching within her ever since that weekend. She thought that the pain would dull as the days went by, but it had only ached more. Everything reminded her of him, what he had done, and how much she missed him. It was driving her mad.

Taking her seat beside Sirius, Adelaide smiled softly and watched him tuck into his pancakes in delight. "Good morning, love!" he said brightly giving her a hug.

She mumbled a hello as she picked at her French toast, and watched Berwin fly into the hall with the other owls, bringing her the daily prophet, just like any other morning. She unfurled the paper and flipped to the sports page to check how the Hollyhead Harpies match went.

"So, I was thinking that we just move all our Snivellus plans for the next week or so over to Avery... you know, to show solidarity." James announced.

Adelaide listened half-heartedly to the boys prattle on and on about all the horribly delicious pranks they were going to pull on her archenemy, flipping through the news paper, until a name stuck out to her... her father's name. Apparently, he gave a quote on some big missing persons case. It wasn't anything out of the ordinary, he often spoke on behalf of the department on high profile cases, but something about the story itself seemed oddly familiar.

 **UNIDENTIFIED UNSPEAKABLE CONFIRMED MISSING**

 ** _An official memo from The Ministry of Magic, London, has confirmed the disappearance of a long time worker in The Department of Mysteries. The identity of said worker has yet to be disclosed, but sources in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement say this was only the latest in a long line of disappearances._**

 ** _It is still unclear if this is the work of He-who-must-not-be-named's followers, but sources in the ministry say they "wouldn't be surprised if it was."_**

 ** _Long time Head of The Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Filip Fawley, states that, "We are doing everything in our power to locate the missing worker and apprehend those responsible, if need be."_**

 ** _It is speculated that the ministry worker in question was taken for information regarding the ministries most illusive and secretive department that would aide He-who-must-not-be-named in his reign of terror._**

"...do you think Addy? Addy? ADS? Earth to Addy!" exclaimed Sirius, waving his hands in front of her face between her and the news paper.

"Huh? What..."

"I said, what do you think Addy? About the whole charming his shoes into hedgehogs thing..." Sirius repeated, seeing the wheels in her mind turning.

"Oh, um... Hedgehog-hedgehogs sound good..." she said distractedly, looking around the hall for someone in particular. "Has Marlene come down yet?" she asked the group.

The boys looked around. "Doesn't look like it... why?" James asked.

Adelaide felt her heart sink. "She... she um... she didn't seem like she was feeling well earlier... Actually, you know what, I think I'm just going to go bring her some food. I'll catch up with you all later." she said standing from her seat, walking a few paces before rushing back to grab the news paper... then walking a few more paces and rushing back again to give Sirius a quick kiss, much to James's displeasure.

Once out of the hall she ran as fast as her short little legs would take her up to the girls' dorm. Sniffles and choked back sobs met her as she reached the old wooden door. Slowly, she opened the door and saw Marlene sitting with her knees to her chest on her bed, salty tears falling down onto a worn piece of parchment.

Adelaide knocked softly so she wouldn't be startled, and watched the honey blonde furiously wipe her tearstained face with the hem of her sleeve.

"I brought you some French toast... I know how much you like it, and thought it might make you feel better..." Adelaide said softly.

Marlene didn't answer, which Adelaide thought was better than being screamed at, and walked to her side, sitting on the edge of the girl's bed.

"I um... I know you don't want to talk about it... but if there's something going on, just know I'm here... and it doesn't make you any less strong to be sad or scared about something..." Adelaide said, trying to not sound as awkward as she felt. She was pretty good at giving pep talks to Sirius, but with other people it felt very unnatural no matter how much she meant her words.

Marlene peaked up, then took the French toast and began to eat, placing the parchment on the bed face down. Adelaide sat with her in contented silence, waiting until she was ready to say something.

"Thank you." Marlene mumbled gratefully after several minutes ticked by.

"You're welcome." Adelaide said with a reassuring smile, watching Marlene stare at the news paper with an oddly rattled expression.

"Can I— Can I see that?" the honey blonde asked, pointing toward the folded Daily Prophet.

"Uh.. oh sure!" Adelaide said awkwardly, fumbling to hand it to her. Marlene's deep blue eyes fought to keep her tears at bay, reading the same article about the missing person. "Pretty sad, that story..." Adelaide commented quietly.

"Yeah." Marlene said, voice breaking, blinking back tears. "Do you— um... do you think they'll find him?" she asked, glancing to look Adelaide dead in the eyes with unwavering intensity.

Adelaide didn't miss that she called the person a 'him'.

"I think so." she said scooting to her side.

Marlene nodded as if she was trying to convince herself it was true.

"Wha-what if they can't find him though... What— what do you think they— the Death Eaters will do to him?" Marlene asked, looking over to the parchment on the bed.

Adelaide's heart thumped hard against her chest at the mention of Death Eaters. "I-I um..." she stammered. She had a few ideas, but none of them were pleasant.

"You know, I didn't even get to say goodbye to my dad before I got on the train this year... the-the aurors said it wasn't safe... being out in public with him."

"I-I'm so sorry..."

"I didn't get to say goodbye, Ads... what if— what if he never comes home?" she squeaked, a few tears falling down her cheeks.

Adelaide had never seen her tough friend this vulnerable and upset. Even when she fought the Death Eater boggart in class the year before, she seemed so calm and collected—the definition of fearless. But now, she just looked like a fourteen year old girl who wanted to see her father again. "You can't think like that Marls. You just have to hope for the best. I promise, if your dad is anywhere near as strong as you are, he will fight through hell to get back to you."

Marlene smiled sadly. "You're right."

Once again they fell into a contented silence for a few long minutes, until Marlene finally cleared her throat. "They— they killed my aunt, just before first year." Marlene mumbled, fiddling with the parchment which Adelaide now realized was an old letter. "The Death Eaters— they broke into the house and were trying to get my dad, and she— she tried to fight them off so the rest of us could have time to hide— and she did, but then they— a woman in a mask— hit her with a killing curse just before the aurors showed up."

Adelaide's eyes widened.

"It's been a few years, and we've moved around a bunch since then, but I can still hear her voice— The Death Eater's... I think I could recognize it anywhere..." she said through her teeth, sending a strange look at Adelaide.

"Well, that-that's good though, it could help them catch who did it..." Adelaide tried, feeling squirmy under her forceful gaze.

Marlene stayed quiet for a moment. " Yeah, maybe..." she said quietly. "Listen Ads, I really appreciate you bringing me food and hanging out with me while I act like a big blubbering baby, but I really just want to be alone now." said Marlene in a tired voice.

"Oh. Um... okay, well if you need anything else... just let me know, alright? I have no issues skipping classes if you need me to." she winked, trying to lighten the mood.

A hoarse laugh rose from Marlene's throat. "Thanks, I'll keep that in mind."

* * *

Adelaide sprinted off, making it to her first class with seconds to spare, scooting in beside Lily. Thankfully it was charms and they were just using the period to practice summoning and banishment charms.

"Cutting it a little close, don't you think?" Lily said quietly, raising an eyebrow.

"I was with Marlene..." she wheezed out of breath. "She's still not erm... feeling well."

Lily's eyes softened. "Oh, yeah I noticed that. I tried to get her to go to the hospital wing, but she just kept saying she was 'fine.'"

"Yeah, well... I think she's more homesick, than sick sick... but don't tell her I said that!"

"My lips are sealed." Lily said, zipping her lips and throwing away an imaginary key before chuckling softly.

Adelaide pointed her wand at a pillow across the room and lazily summoned it toward them, then sent it zooming back in place so Lily could try.

"Um... so I noticed you haven't been talking to Regulus a lot lately..." Lily commented, trying way too hard to be casual.

"There's a reason for that." Adelaide said with more edge in her voice than intended.

Lily frowned. "And what reason is that?" she asked, knowing full well why they weren't getting along.

"Because, he— he just isn't the person I thought he was." she said weakly.

"Don't you think you're being a little melodramatic?"

"No, I don't." Adelaide said shortly. "If you knew what he did— what he said, I think you would agree with me."

"I know all about what he did and said." Lily said quietly, waving her wand and sending the pillow zooming toward the wall, knocking James behind the knees and sending him falling and flailing onto a large pile of pillows, hand reaching to bring Sirius down with him.

Adelaide rounded to face the auburn haired witch. "So you know what he called you?!"

"He didn't mean it." Lily said surely.

"I think he did..." Adelaide spat.

Lily let out a loud breath. "You know, I really think that if I can forgive him for what he did, you could at least talk to him—"

"Now you sound like Evan—"

"—he's really torn up about it Addy. He thinks you hate him..."

"I don't hate him..." she muttered quickly. She internally cursed her mouth for working faster than her mind.

"Well, if there's any part of you that still cares about him, I really think you should at least give him a chance to talk to you and apologize..." Lily said softly.

"Why couldn't he just come up and apologize to _me_?! Why do I have to talk to him first! He messed up, not me!" she exclaimed, sending a pillow zooming toward Sirius without even thinking. He was knocked backwards against a wall. Rubbing the back of his head, he raised his arms out in question of her attack, which she responded by cringing and mouthing a 'sorry.'

"Need I remind you of another Slytherin who begged and groveled for weeks... You hexed him every time he got within three feet of you..."

She had a point and Adelaide didn't have a good comeback, so the platinum blonde just assumed a stubborn expression.

"You know I'm right." Lily smirked. "He's probably terrified you'll hex his book into a duck again or something—"

"I'll have you know he enjoyed that duck very much!"

"Still... can't you understand why he might be hesitant to approach you?"

Adelaide muttered something under her breath that sounded like 'I guess.'

"Sooo... are you going to talk to him..." Lily coaxed, sending another pillow flying toward James accidentally.

"REALLY EVANS?!" The messy haired boy grumbled, looking down at his now broken glasses.

"Oh shoot! Erm... be right back..." Lily said quickly, running off to help James out of guilt.

Sirius smirked and took this opportunity to switch partners. "Hello Addykins," he greeted, leaning against the desk. "What's up with you and Lily trying to kill us with the damn pillows?" he laughed.

"Ehh... yeah sorry about that..." she said, flashing a sheepish smile. "She was talking to me about Reggie..." she murmured playing with a bit of her hair.

A small crease began to form between his brows. "Did he ever apologize to her?"

"Yeah... and she erm... she forgave him."

Sirius nodded in understanding. "She wants you to talk to him, doesn't she?"

Adelaide sent a pillow flying through the air, knocking the wind out of poor Peter. "Yeah..."

"Listen, I hate what he said, you know I do. But I also know him, and I can tell he feels guilty about it... and I also know how much you miss him."

"I-I do not— I don't miss... him.. pshhh! I-I... he-he was a —and a um..." Adelaide sputtered incoherently at his last comment. "You have no way of knowing that!" she finally forced out.

"Addy, you talk in your sleep, remember?"

A burning red blush bloomed across her cheeks. No, she most certainly did not remember.

"Oh, you're so cute when you do that!" Sirius smirked, lopping an arm over her shoulder and playing with her hair.

"Shut up..." she muttered.

"Nope. One of the perks of this whole relationship thing is I get to tell you how cute you are any time I so please." he said cheekily.

Adelaide hid her face (which now looked akin to a ripe tomato) in her hands.

"So, are you going to talk to him?" he asked sweetly.

"Only if you tell me what I said in my sleep." her muffled voice uttered.

Sirius sighed dramatically. "Well, first of all you mentioned something about pancakes the other night when you crashed in my bed, which really got my hopes up… lets see… then you kept asking about Merlin—asked dream Reg if he got along well with ducks… and then—oh! And you asked me about the puddle thing again—"

"NO!" Adelaide gasped, completely mortified.

Sirius laughed at her reaction initially, but then was curious why it was such a triggering topic. "You ever going to explain that one to me?"

An internal debate broke out in Adelaide's mind. On one side there was the stupid Gryffindor, who she now realized sounded just like Mary McDonald, that chanted, 'TELL HIM! TELL HIM! TELL HIM!' at the top of her imaginary lungs. Then, on the other side was a less intense version of her own voice saying, 'Too embarrassing! Take a vow of silence!'

Sirius could tell she was leaning towards telling him, and his curiosity only increased. "Please tell me Addykins…" he begged sweetly, looking up at her with big, grey, puppy dog eyes.

Adelaide pursed her lips. "Fine." she huffed. She couldn't say no to him when he looked at her like that… Well, she actually could, but she didn't really want to. "Second year, Mary and I were talking about James's crush on Lily, and all the silly things he kept trying to do to woo her… and.. erm... specifically, how he offered to fly her over all the muddy puddles on campus. And I so I was joking around and said something about how I wish I had someone to do that for me one day and Mary just assumed that erm... that you would've been more than happy to do something like that for me... implying that... well that you...you know..."

"I would have absolutely flown you over a puddle, Addykins." Sirius said with a dopey grin. "Still would."

Adelaide felt a smile grace her lips. "Um... so anyway, I didn't even really think anything of it until I got sick. But that whole time I was in the hospital and at Saint Mungo's, you never left me, you were always there and took care of me, and fought for me... and I guess that's kind of when I realized I fancied you... and it just sort of came out when I was sleeping."

Adelaide spared a look beside her and saw Sirius grinning like an idiot. "That is the cutest thing I've ever heard... but second year, eh?" he said wiggling his eyebrows.

"Shut up!" she said giving him a playful shove

"Now, now, no need to get violent Fawley!" he smirked. "So... when are you going to talk to Reg?"

Adelaide groaned, she agreed to that, didn't she?

"I'll talk to him tonight or something..." she mumbled, flicking her wand lazily. A pillow zoomed toward Lily, knocking her right into James's arms, causing Sirius and Adelaide to snicker from across the room.

"Potter! Let me go!" Lily demanded awkwardly, face pink as James gave her a goofy smile, obviously thrilled to be the one to 'save' her from falling over.

"You know," Adelaide whispered to Sirius. "I still can't decide if his obsession with her is cute or creepy…"

Sirius smirked. "I think it's a little of both."

* * *

That evening Adelaide walked slowly down to the great hall, dreading the conversation to come, but still fully planning to finally talk to her former-favorite Slytherin. However, when she reached the great hall, he was nowhere to be found…

Somehow, Evan seemed to notice her disappointment, and rose from his seat to make his way toward her. "Merlin has a cold…"

"Oh." she said simply.

"I could go get him, if you want to talk to him—"

"No, it's okay… I-I'll just find him another time…" she said quickly.

Evan gave her a sad smile. "Alright, well let me know when you do so I can mentally prepare myself to ask Mary on that double date…"

Adelaide chuckled and assured him that he would be the first to know, then walked to her seat at the Gryffindor table.

"Oi! Ads!" called a brown haired fifth year. "We still on for the plan tonight?" Jack asked with a grin.

Sirius watched the interaction with narrowed eyes, trying to calm little monster within him. Jack is just a nice guy, the little voice of reason in his head (which sounded just like Remus) reminded him. Jack was his friend. He did not hate him for making secret late night plans with his girlfriend.

"Oh merlin, I almost forgot! Yes! Absolutely! Just meet me in the common room around nine-thirty!" she said quickly, scurrying off to sit beside Sirius.

"What was _that_ about?" Sirius asked, nodding toward Jack.

Adelaide fought to keep from smiling. "He's just helping me with something." she said cryptically.


	78. Chapter 78

**Chapter 78- The Pancake Murderer**

The official team roster still had yet to be announced, and yet James sat at his perfectly organized desk jotting down ideas and drafting strategies for the upcoming Quidditch season. He was halfway through charming an animated diagram for a new reverse pass play, when he heard a strange dog-like whine. Rolling his eyes, he turned toward his dramatic lump of a best friend wallowing in despair upon his bed and stuffing his face with every flavor beans, without even checking to see what flavor they were.

"Cheer up mate, she'll be back later." James smirked.

Sirius grumbled unintelligibly, voice garbled by the assortment of candy shoved into his mouth.

"Sorry, didn't quite catch that last bit..."

Sirius sighed loudly. "I said, what is she even doing with him?!"

James knew _exactly_ what Adelaide was doing with Jack that night, but promised to keep Sirius entertained... or distracted at the very least, until she returned. "She's probably just tutoring him." he lied casually.

" _Tutoring_ him?! Is that code for something?!"

James panicked. Was it? He wasn't really up with the latest slang... could be. "Uh... no?" Sirius's distress visibly intensified. "No. Not code." James said in a lower voice, trying to sound more sure.

Sirius nodded slowly, eyes darting toward the Marauder's Map on Remus's bedside table.

"Don't you dare think about stalking her." James said quietly.

"I was not—"

"Yes you were..." James sighed. The poor sap looked so crestfallen that James considered just saying 'screw it' and telling him what Adelaide was really up to just to put him out of his misery. Unfortunately however, he solemnly swore to keep her late night escapades a secret. "Just relax. She'll be back before you know it."

* * *

"No! Dammit! I've screwed everything up! This is a disaster!" Adelaide cried out in frustration.

"Addy! It's okay! Just relax, we can fix this—" Jack tried to calm her to no avail.

"No Jack! It's a total mess! There is no way we— no way _I_ can fix _this_!" she insisted.

Jack took a steadying breath. "Listen, everyone makes mistakes... you didn't mean to—"

"It's ruined! Everything is ruined, all because I screwed up! I should've never brought you here!"

"Addy. You burned a freaking pancake, it's really not the end of the world." Jack said sternly.

"It is! I can't do it!" she said dramatically. "I'm a failure!"

"I really don't think that burning a few pancakes makes you a failure—"

"I'M A PANCAKE MURDERING FAILURE!"

Adelaide stormed away from the griddle through the cloud of black smoke and and sat on one of the wooden tables of the kitchens, head rested on her arms in defeat. "Can you just make them? At least then I can give him something... something edible." she muttered woefully.

Jack chuckled. "Sure... but I think you'll get the hang of it pretty soon! You were great at making the batter we just need to work on your—"

"Just make the damn pancakes, Middleton." she ordered.

Jack's eyes widened and he got started without another word.

When Sirius told her how happy it would make him if she learned how to make pancakes, she knew she had to ask Jack for help since cooking was one of his hobbies. She naively thought that she'd be able to pick it up in no time. After all, how difficult could it be, really?

Very difficult, apparently.

Ten minutes ticked by and Adelaide was still sulking at the table when she heard someone walk in. Catching a fleeting glimpse of curly black locks through the curtain of white-blonde hair masking her face, she groaned internally. Of course Sirius would follow her, she thought to herself. She knew Sirius better than anyone, and knew he'd be jealous that she was spending the evening with Jack for some unknown reason. But she also knew he would be thrilled once he knew the real reason.

"Go away, Siri." she grumbled.

"Um... Addy?" said a voice that was a little too high to be Sirius's.

Adelaide felt her heart sink into her stomach as she realized who it really was. Slowly, she lifted her head and brushed the hair away from her face. "Reggie." she said softly.

Regulus's mouth opened and closed several times as he tried to find the right words to say. "Uh... what are— what are you doing down here?"

Jack suddenly turned around, clad in a red checkered apron, wielding a spatula. "I was teaching her to make pancakes—"

" _Trying_ to teach me how to make pancakes... it didn't end well..." she mumbled. "Why are you here?"

"Uh... Merlin has a cold... I was going to make him some soup..." Regulus said, scratching the back of his neck.

This was the first time Adelaide had got a proper look at the tall Slytherin in days. Her heart ached as she noticed the dark purplish circles under his stormy grey eyes, his swallow skin, and his hair looking way too untidy.

"Um... Fwoopers drink soup?" Adelaide asked in slight amusement.

"Yeah, um... I read about it in that book you gave me..."

"Weird..." Adelaide chuckled awkwardly. "Um..." she started, not knowing exactly what to say, but not wanting the conversation to end. "Um... I heard you apologized to Lily." she blurted out.

Regulus's shoulders rolled forward slightly. "Yeah... I-I did."

"She said that you thought I hated you..." Adelaide said, heart beating a little faster, watching Regulus's carefully constructed mask of emotionlessness falter. "I don't." she said firmly.

"You should." he said quietly.

"But I don't..."

"Pancakes are ready!" Jack said happily, turning to face the two and quickly realizing he was interrupting something. "Um... you know what... it's late... maybe I should just go..." he said awkwardly, saying his last goodbyes to Adelaide before sneaking back to Gryffindor tower alone.

The air of the vacant kitchens smelled of burnt food mixed with fresh pancakes and maple syrup. The hiss of the dying fire and the slow echoing drip of a faucet were the only sounds to pierce the tension between the two teens.

"Pancakes?" Adelaide offered Regulus, gesturing to a large stack of his brother's favorite food.

Regulus shrugged, almost smiling. "I'm really more of a waffle person myself..."

Adelaide nodded, then looked uncomfortably down at her fingers, biting her lip, not knowing what to say.

After a few more excruciating moments of dense awkward silence, Regulus couldn't take it anymore. "Addy, I'm really sorry about what I said— I really didn't mean it... I just—I think I just get all caught up in that stuff sometimes..." he said in a rush.

Adelaide's eyebrows were knitted together. "But why? I don't understand why you would say it if you didn't mean it..."

"Because I—Addy you have no idea what it's like. Trying to be perfect—"

"I know better than you think—" she said darkly.

"No. But your parents—I think that deep down they know you don't agree with them... but mine—I-I don't want to let them down... they're my family..." Regulus said, grappling for the words to make her understand.

Adelaide frowned. "But they're wrong."

"They are about a lot of stuff... but you have to see that there's a little bit of truth to what they say—"

"What?!" she exclaimed. She didn't understand how he could even say something like this.

"Just listen, there's a reason why we keep our magic a secret—even the Ministry doesn't trust muggles with the truth—"

"Regulus—" she warned.

"It's a fact. Now, I'm not saying I hate all muggles—I think Lily is amazing—"

"Lily isn't a muggle!"

"—but I'm just saying... maybe the issue isn't black and white. There are bad muggles out there just like there are bad wizards—"

"Reggie. Please, just stop." she said in a small but intimidating voice that reminded Regulus a lot of her father.

Once again, several minutes of heavy silence fell upon them, crushing their words into nonexistence before they had a chance to leave their mouths.

Regulus's shoulders rolled forward once again. "Addy... I really am sorry."

"Are you?"

"I-I am." he said, dark grey eyes looking at her in desperation and guilt. "I shouldn't have said all that about Sirius, or Lily...I-I miss you Addy... and I want to be your friend still... but I understand it if you don't want to be mine."

"I miss you too." she said without even realizing the words were leaving her lips. It was the truth, of course. But as she looked at his brokenness, she couldn't help but think that the person she really missed wasn't the person standing in front of her.

She missed the big hearted boy he was before; the boy who gushed about his house elf and magical birds and lived with his heart on his sleeve. The boy who ran all around campus to grab her flowers, and who giggled watching the vibrant green bird dance. She missed the boy he was before being weighed down by the darkness.

The boy in front of her was someone else, but she wondered if the boy she missed was still within him, hidden under the shadows.

Even if he was there, how could she be his friend knowing that he sympathized with his parent's ideals?

As much as it pained the moral compass within her, she knew there was no hope of changing his mind if she wasn't around to help him... and she refused to sit back and watch the darkness continue to corrupt her sweet bird obsessed best friend. She wanted her best friend back, and she would stop at nothing to save him from being wiped away completely.

So, with this in mind she said her next words. "I forgive you."

* * *

"She's been gone for _hours!"_

James looked at his clock. She really had been gone for a while... maybe she got caught sneaking back up. "Ugh, toss me the map."

He looked through the hallways and their usual hiding places, noticing several interesting things, including Mr. Filch walking with Madam Pince near the greenhouses, Micheal Avery pacing back and forth in a random hallway on the seventh floor, and Bartley McLaggan in a broom closet with Felicitania Tugwood, until he finally found a dot with Adelaide's little name on it. "Oh, she's... here?"

A moment later, Adelaide burst through the door to the Boys' dorm holding a tall, teetering stack of pancakes. "HELLO HANDSOMES, I COME BEARING GIFTS!"

Sirius's face lit up instantly. James couldn't tell if it was because of Adelaide or the food in her hands. "Are-are those pancakes?" Sirius asked with a goofy grin.

"They are indeed!" said Adelaide, placing them on his desk and hopping onto his bed, looking rather pleased with herself.

Peter looked back and forth between the pancakes and Adelaide several times. "Why do you have a bunch of pancakes?"

"Who cares?!" Sirius said with his mouth full.

"Want some Moony?" Adelaide asked kindly.

Remus looked with a face of slight disgust at Sirius gluttonously attempting to eat a syrup soaked pancake in one big bite. "No thanks... I'm really more of a waffle person."

"Funny, that's what Reggie said." Adelaide tittered offhandedly.

James furrowed his brows. "Huh?"

"I thought you were with Jack?" mumbled Sirius.

"Oh, I was!" Adelaide said quickly.

"And it took you nearly three hours to get the house elves to whip up some pancakes?" Sirius asked somewhat suspiciously.

"No— I mean... it took a while, but only because the house elves weren't making them..." Adelaide clarified.

"Then who... Addy! You made these?!" said Sirius in disbelief.

"I thought you couldn't cook?" Peter said.

"I can't. Apparently. I tried to make them myself... but I burned about a dozen in a row and so... I made Jack whip these up, figured it was better than nothing..." she trailed off shyly.

"You burned a dozen?!" James laughed.

"Give or take a few." she answered with a shrug.

Sirius stared intently at his girlfriend, putting the plate down absently. "But you tried to learn how to make them?"

"Well... yeah. I knew you liked them so..." Adelaide said softly, nervously biting her lip from his intense gaze.

"James look away." Sirius said quickly, eyes still on Adelaide.

"What? Why—oh Merlin's Beard— Ughhh! Stop with the snogging!"

"To be fair, he did try to warn you." Remus said, amused by James's reaction.

"I still don't understand how Regulus fits into this?" Peter said, round face squished up in confusion, thinking hard.

Face flushed and feeling a little breathless from her boyfriend's sudden display of affection, Adelaide snuggled up beside Sirius and explained how the younger Slytherin came to make soup and how they eventually made up, leaving out the part about him sympathizing with his parents' mistrust of muggles.

"So, you two are good?" Sirius asked.

"Yeah, we're okay now." she said.

James let out a loud breath. "Thank Merlin!"

Adelaide sent him a questioning look. She figured the boys would be relieved to hear that they had made up, but there seemed to be something more to James's reaction.

"Now we can focus on demolishing the Slytherins next month." James said with the utmost determination, visualizing the look on Avery and his goons' faces when they crushed them on the Quidditch pitch. That pointy faced weasel would rue the day he ever messed with his honorary little sister.

"Glad you have your priorities in order, Prongs." Remus said, lips quirking up at one side into a small smirk.

* * *

"WELCOME TO THE FIRST GAME OF THE SEASON!"

Sirius's voice boomed through the snowy Quidditch pitch the second Saturday of November. Excitement buzzed through the stands like a bolt of electricity, making the sea of scarlet and emerald scream ever louder—flags and banners billowing violently in the bone chilling wind.

"First up are Slytherins, lead by captain and chaser Theadore Nott —" Mary began, listing out the various names of their enemies.

Standing just inside the changing room tent, Adelaide felt the adrenaline pulse through her veins. Face calm and impassive as her stomach churned in knots and her heart pounded in her chest. The sounds around her were muffled, as if she was underwater: distant and indistinguishable.

Her breath caught in her throat and she gripped her broom tighter, knowing who was going to be in the stands. She internally cursed her stupid boyfriend of a month for informing her father of the date and time of her first Quidditch game in one of the numerous letters they had exchanged since the Howler incident.

Sirius insisted that it was only to insure her safety, but Adelaide knew he enjoyed having a parental figure take an interest in his life. However, Sirius would never admit this in a million years. After all, Filip Fawley was the enemy— their correspondence was merely a necessary evil that he must uphold to ensure the longevity of their relationship.

"—Ads! LETS GO!"

Adelaide was shaken, quite literally, from her thoughts, and shoved toward the snowy pitch by James Potter.

Even through the deafening roar of the crowd, Adelaide could clearly hear Sirius and Mary listing out the Gryffindor team members.

"—captain Blake Wood, and finally the finest trio of chasers to ever grace the sky's of Hogwarts—" Mary began.

"THE HANDSOME HUNK OF A WIZARD, JAMES FREAKING POTTER—"

"Black—" McGonagall warned halfheartedly.

"The always lovely Jack Middleton—" Mary said.

"AND THE GIRL WHO IS AS BEAUTIFUL AS SHE IS BRILLIANT—"

"Black—" McGonagall warned again.

"WHO STRIKES FEAR IN THE HEARTS OF KEEPERS EVERYWHERE, BUT CANNOT COOK A PANCAKE TO SAVE HER LIFE—"

"BLACK!"

"ADELAIDE FAWLEY!" he cheered, sending the Gryffindor stands to new levels of hype.

Trying her hardest to ignore the gaze of hundreds of eyes, Adelaide flew like a bullet up to her position in the middle of the field, catching a fleeting glimpse of a thin boy in green—The newest Slytherin seeker: Regulus Black.

Madam Hooch threw the Quaffle in to the air and the sound of the whistle reached Adelaide's ears, triggering her mind to snap itself into competition mode.

The crowd of screaming fans, Mary and Sirius's colorful commentary, the vibrant banners and posters— they all disappeared until all that was left was her team and the Slytherins.

She zoomed to snatch the Quaffle right out of Slytherin Chaser Patricia Flint's fingertips and immediately threw it behind her, sending it hurtling toward James.

He caught the ball, barrelrolled to avoid a bludger and raced toward the Slytherin goal, lining up to throw a pass back to Adelaide, or so the Slytherin chasers thought, pumping a fake then dropping the ball straight below him with a smirk.

Jack whizzed downward out of nowhere— scooping up the ball just before it hit the ground, looping up to throw the ball through the middle rung of the Slytherin goal post before the keeper even knew what was happening.

"TEN POINTS TO GRYFFINDOR!" Mary screamed wildly.

After half an hour, Adelaide, James, and Jack, successfully out maneuvered the now struggling Slytherin team at every turn, practically reading each others minds as they zipped around the emerald clad players.

"ANOTHER GOAL FOR GRYFFINDOR!" Sirius said.

"THAT BRINGS THE SCORE TO 160 TO 50, GRYFFINDOR!" Mary cheered.

Adelaide flew straight toward the left side of the field, watching James in her periphery with her eyes on Jack. Without warning, Patricia Flint threw herself into the petite chaser. Faltering and losing height, Adelaide looked up as she tried to realign herself, watching the buck toothed Slytherin's face twist up into a malicious sneer.

"Sorry, Princess!" she called venomously.

"BLATCHING FOUL FROM FLINT" Mary yelled. "Oh no—"

Blinded with annoyance for the chaser before her, Adelaide was oblivious to the bludgers hurdling toward her on either side.

With a crack, the two balls made impact one after the other and a collective gasp hushed through the pitch. Even the Slytherins couldn't deny it was a rough hit. Adelaide staggered, right side of her torso throbbing and left arm clearly broken.

For several long moments she hovered in the air, hunched over and clutching her arm in pain, listening to voices shout in the distance.

"ADDYKINS!"

"FOUL! THAT'S GOT TO BE A FOUL!" Mary screamed furiously.

"Dirty shot!" Remus exclaimed.

"What are you trying to do?! Kill her?!" Lily yelled.

Adelaide then heard the sneering cold voice of Avery from the sea of Slytherins. "Poor little princess!"

"Shut it Avery!" screamed Regulus, sending a rather rude hand gesture toward his section of the stands.

There was no way Adelaide was going to let a dirty hit keep her out of this game.

Gritting her teeth, Adelaide held onto her broom with her right hand and raced toward James.

"Addy! Are you okay?!" he asked quickly.

"I'm— well not really. My arm's broken."

"Addy! We need to call a time out, you can't play—"

"No. I can throw with my right just as well as my left. Just tell Jack to reverse the routes, okay?!" she said, forest green eyes burning in determination.

James knew her well enough to know she was not going to be dissuaded and nodded curtly.

"LOOKS LIKE DESPITE THAT OUTRAGEOUS AND UTTERLY HEINOUS HIT, FAWLEY IS STILL IN THE GAME!" Mary said from the announcers box. Sirius looked beside himself, talking to McGonagall, pointing at the field animatedly as he complained.

Adelaide swiftly whizzed into the sky. Jack intercepted the Quaffle as Flint passed to Bulstrode— he quickly looked to Adelaide and hesitated, not wanting to hurt her further.

"JACK!" she shouted, right arm waving around in annoyance.

He let out a breath and threw the Quaffle to her, grimacing as he watched her catch it, wincing in pain as it landed in her side.

Without a second thought Adelaide weaved through the now annoyed Slytherin chasers, passing to James, who tossed it back to her as she lined up the throw with her non-dominant hand.

The ball flew through the air—

The sea of scarlet fans, and one man with pale blonde hair sitting in the board of governors box, held their breath.

"FAWLEY SCORES!"

For thirty seven more long minutes Adelaide stayed in the game despite the throbbing pain in her arm and side.

"GRYFFINDOR SEEKER FINLAY BELL REACHES AND..."

"SHE'S GOT THE SNITCH! GRYFFINDOR WINS 410 TO 270!" Sirius yelled wildly.

Adelaide finally landed and nearly collapsed as the pain caught up with her, leaning against her broom for support.

Sirius and the rest of the Gryffindors stormed the field. "Addykins! You were brilliant!" He moved to hug her, but she squirmed away. "Addy?"

Without warning Adelaide vomited from pain, narrowly missing Sirius's shoes.

"Oh Merlin... POPPY!" he called, but the healer was already hastily making her way towards them, followed by two people Adelaide did not want to see.

Whether it was from pain, exhaustion, or the shock of seeing her mother and father moving toward her, Adelaide felt her knees give way and the snowy white world around her dim, landing in Sirius's arms.

* * *

Adelaide awoke in the hospital wing that evening, feeling light headed and rather happy, a pleasant side effect of the pain potion Poppy had given her. Her eyes fluttered open and the smell of pancakes filled her senses.

"Are you really eating pancakes?" she croaked with a goofy smile, looking at the curly headed boy stress eating a plate of Jack's signature banana pancakes.

"Well good evening Sleeping Beauty!" Sirius smirked, relief apparent on his face. He quickly called for Poppy then reached for Adelaide's right hand and gave her a soft kiss on the forehead.

"You're so cute..." she said with a dopey grin causing Sirius to chuckle.

"I demand to see my daughter!" A cold shrill voice said.

Adelaide winced, clutching Sirius's hand tighter. "Why is she here?" she asked quietly.

"They wouldn't leave..." Sirius said guiltily. "Believe me, I tried to get rid of them."

"I thought you and my dad were best mates now?" Adelaide snorted.

Sirius frowned. "I told you. It's not like that..."

"Seems like it—" she said in a sing-song voice, feeling a floating sensation.

"Out of the way!" Poppy said, shooing the boy away from her patient. "Right then, I need you to take these—"

"Aw, but Poppy! It smells funny!" Adelaide whined, feeling more lightheaded as she moved to sit up, holding the potion cup in her good hand.

Sirius tensed as he watched her parents walk through the lamplit infirmary, dark robes billowing behind them, and faces stone cold.

"Have you mended her arm?" Cathryn Fawley asked, eliciting a subtle eye roll from Poppy.

"As I told you fifteen minutes ago Mrs. Fawley, her break was fairly complex and will not be completely healed until tomorrow at the very least... what you should really be worried about is the internal bruising,"

"So that's why this hurts..." Adelaide said airily looking down at her throbbing side, attempting to lift her shirt to see how bad the damage was.

"Woah! Let's keep your shirt down, love..." Sirius said a little awkwardly, moving to pull her shirt down with one hand, and hold her hand with the other as Cathryn made a disapproving noise.

Adelaide pouted, eyes moving to her mother. "Why are they here again?" she whispered loudly to Sirius, obviously thinking she was being sneaky.

"They were um... worried about you..." Sirius answered quietly.

Adelaide let out a goofy snort-like laugh that made even stern Poppy crack a smile. "You're so silly, Padfoot."

"Was it really necessary to give her all that pain potion?" Cathryn asked huffily to the healer.

"Well considering she _fainted_ out of pain, I'd say yes. It was necessary." Poppy said curtly.

Cathryn opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off by her husband. "You played very well today, sweetie." Filip told Adelaide.

"But we will be having words with those barbarian beaters' parents—completely uncalled for!" her mother ranted.

Both Sirius and Adelaide looked at the two parents in confusion.

"Sirius, did she just call Mulciber a barbarian?" Adelaide whispered loudly once again to Sirius.

Sirius blinked a few times. "I think she may have, Ads."

"Are you going to send them a howler?!" Adelaide asked her mother hopefully. Might be fun to watch someone else be on the receiving end of her verbal abuse. "Ooo! Can you send one to that prick Avery too?!"

Cathryn Fawley looked a little off-footed by both her response and clearly drugged state. "Filip, I think you can handle matters from here… I have a few things I'd like to discuss with Miss Pomfrey…"

"It's missus, actually." Poppy said cooly, but walking away with the annoying woman nonetheless.

Filip pulled up one of the wooden chairs at Adelaide's bedside and sat down beside her.

"Why do you hate my boyfriend?" Adelaide asked her father bluntly with a pout, causing Sirius to nearly choke on air.

To everyone's surprise, Filip smiled. "Sweetie, I do not hate your boyfriend."

"You don't?" Sirius asked incredulously.

"No." Filip said simply.

Adelaide looked suspicious. "Are you sure?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm sure I do not hate Sirius." Filip said.

Adelaide thought this over for a moment. "Do you know how to make pancakes?" she asked her father earnestly. It seemed like a perfectly reasonable question in her mind, so she couldn't understand why both he and Sirius found it so funny. "Are you two going to keep laughing at me, or are you going to answer my question!?" she huffed.

"I don't think I've ever attempted to make a pancake." Filip said with a smile. Adelaide was much too loopy from her pain potion to really take in the fact that her father had not only smiled, but also laughed.

"I tried to one time…" she said with a shiver just at the thought. "It didn't end well…"

"She burned over a dozen in a row… We call her The Pancake Murderer now." Sirius smirked.

"Only you and Jack call me that!" she said grumpily to Sirius. "They're the only ones that call me that!" she explained to her father.

"I believe you." Filip said smiling softly.

Adelaide took a second to soak in the fact that her father actually seemed to enjoy her presence at the moment. "You look less scary when you smile." she said matter of factly.

A small twist of guilt ran through Filip's heart at the thought of his daughter thinking he was 'scary'.

"You played very well this morning, sweetie." he said softly. "I'm very proud of you."

A small smiled pulled at the corner of Adelaide's lips, and Sirius couldn't help but be happy that she'd had some semblance of a real father for a little while at least. "Thanks."

After a few more minutes of Adelaide asking why she was stuck in the hospital wing all night and arguing that she should sleep in her own bed, Filip took his leave. However, before he made it very far, Sirius yelped, 'Wait!' and jogged to catch up with him.

"Yes?" Filip asked quietly.

Sirius looked at him sternly. "You're not doing all this just to manipulate her, are you?" he asked genuinely. "Because if you're just being nice to her so that she'll work for Voldy or something, it's going to crush her."

Cool blue eyes sliced through Sirius like a blade. "I'm not manipulating her." he said shortly. "I'm trying to make things right. I told you this in the letter—"

"I know what you said, I just had to make sure." Sirius said cutting him off. "You also said you would keep that stupid wife of yours away from Addy..."

"Believe me when I say, it's better that her mother was with me today." Filip said in a low voice.

"What do you mean—"

"Siri! I need pudding!" a voice whined from across the room.

"Take care of her, alright?" Filip said softly.

Sirius pursed his lips and nodded. He waited a moment, watching the man walk off, then moved to fetch Adelaide some pudding, hoping that her father was telling the truth, and wondering what he meant by what he said about her mother.

"Here you go, love! Chocolate pudding for the Pancake Murderer!"

"Stop calling me that!" Adelaide whined through a mouth full of pudding.

"Would you rather I call you Addy the Bad Assy?" he smirked.

"Ugh! No! Stop it!"

"How about Fluffy, Dollie liked that one—"

"NO!"

"Well then I dunno what you want from me!" Sirius said sassily in mock annoyance, crossing his arms over his chest.

Looking away in an effort to keep from smiling Adelaide spotted a bit of purple fur sitting on the floor. "I want you to hand me Dorris!"

Sirius smirked slightly, looking down and grabbing the little fluff ball. "Oh Addykins!" he began in his squeaky Dorris voice. "I've met the most wonderful Duck! His name is Wallace—"

"Again with the freaking duck!?" Adelaide exclaimed, clearly entertained.

"I love him so much! I might even love him more than you… " said 'Dorris'.

"Oh, well good to know where I stand..." Adelaide scoffed.

"I might love you more if YOU DIDN'T KEEP SPILLING INK ON ME YOU MONSTER!" Sirius squeaked for the purple ball of fluff, voice cracking.

At this, Adelaide lost it, dissolving into a loud fit of giggles. "Siri, come here!" she said, waving her hand to beckon him closer.

Sirius leaned toward her. "What's up, love?"

Adelaide lifted herself up a little to close the distance between them, pressing a soft kiss to his lips, then slumping back down onto the bed. "That's all." she grinned.

"I like Addy on pain potions." Sirius said cheekily.

"You better like Addy all the time." she pouted.

"Oh, I do. Believe me, I do." he chuckled.

"You like me more than that damn charmed duck?" she asked.

"Way, way more than the duck." Sirius said, pushing her hair behind her ear and looking at her as if she hung the moon and the stars.

"Do you like me more than pancakes?" she asked softly, getting a little lost in his gaze.

"I like you more than anything." he smiled.

Adelaide grinned. "I like you more than anything too."


	79. Chapter 79

**Chapter 79- Potter! You Little Stalker!**

"Sirius, you really don't have to keep doing that..." Adelaide said quietly, pulling her scarlet and gold scarf tighter around herself, looking over to Sirius walking alongside through the snowy courtyard one Wednesday morning, her school books in his arms.

Ever since her bludgeoning at the first Quidditch game about a month prior, Sirius had taken it upon himself to carry Adelaide's books to every class... even the ones they didn't have together. Initially, it began out of necessity (Poppy didn't want her re-injuing herself the first few days out of the hospital). But eventually it started to become routine. A win-win situation for both of them. Adelaide got to have her handsome boyfriend carry her belongings, and Sirius got to spend more time with his lovely, stupendous, absolutely brilliant girlfriend... or at least that's how he saw it.

"I'm being a gentleman!" Sirius said proudly.

Lily snorted. "Since when?"

Sirius scowled. "Since always."

"Sure... you were a real gentleman when you hexed that Slytherin girl in the hallway last Tuesday." Lily said scathingly, rolling her eyes.

Sirius's scowl intensified. "She had it coming—"

"Oh, look at the time! I think I can manage from here Siri! See you after class!" Adelaide said quickly, pulling her ancient runes book and workbook from his arms, giving him a quick peck on the cheek, and ushering him away before things turned ugly.

Sirius left, trotting back through the courtyard, away from the auburn-haired girl glaring at him.

Lily continued to stomp her way through the snow toward the covered hallway. "He follows you around like a love sick puppy..." she muttered.

"Well, I mean—"

"Don't! Don't you dare make a dog joke out of that!" Lily said, blowing her red hair out of her face and aggressively shaking the snow off of her robes.

Adelaide paused to look at her best friend carefully. Lily seemed to be more irritated by Sirius's presence than usual. Actually, now that Adelaide thought about it, she seemed irritated by everyone's presence that day, which was very unlike her. Normally, she was the most patient person on the planet. "Is something bothering you, Lily?" she asked slowly.

"No!" Lily said a little too loudly, making a few nearby first years jump in fright.

Adelaide raised her eyebrows. "If you say so..."

"I'm fine." Lily snapped.

Lily's sour mood continued through Ancient Runes where she refused to let Adelaide copy off of her worksheet, into Defense against the dark arts where she gave even Marlene a run for her money in their mock duels, and on through dinner where she ate her lamb chop with unprecedented amounts of ferocity.

"Geez Lils... what did that poor lamb ever do to you?" Mary asked in slight disgust.

Lily ignored her, and continued eating.

"Lily... don't take this the wrong way or anything... but you seem a little... worked up." Adelaide said hesitantly.

Marlene chuckled under her breath. "That's putting it lightly..."

"I told you I was fine. I'm just hungry." Lily said, fighting to remain civil.

After dinner, while Mary studied for some important quiz or another with Remus and Peter in the corner, Adelaide lounged comfortably on her favorite couch by the fire, feet in Sirius's lap. As she skimmed through the Evening Prophet's article about a muggle family terrorized by some of You-Know-who's followers, she caught a flash of red hair racing past. Pulling the newspaper down, she watched in confusion as Lily attempted to run out of the common room alone. "Lils! Where the blazes are you going!?"

"Need some air!" Lily said quickly without looking back, leaving the room and slamming the portrait hole closed behind her, much to the fat lady's annoyance.

"You don't think she's going outside, do you?" James asked from a chair beside them, glancing toward the snow tufted window.

Adelaide shrugged. "I dunno... maybe?"

James's face was filled with concern as he quickly ran upstairs to the boys dorm. Adelaide figured he was planning to stalk her on the map.

Sirius pulled down his Quidditch magazine. "What's with her lately?"

Adelaide frowned. "I dunno... she's been in a real mood since this morning. I tried to talk to her but she said she was fine... well, actually she sort of _yelled_ that she was fine... it was a little frightening... pretty sure she emotionally scarred some Hufflepuff first years..."

"Those poor little puffs can't catch a break." Sirius said morosely. "First Peter accidentally dumps all that maple syrup on them Monday... now this."

"They still smell like Canada..." Adelaide said shaking her head slowly.

Sirius gave her a quizzical look. "You've never even been to Canada, how the hell do you know what it smells like?"

"Mary's been. She gave them a good sniff and said that's what they smelled like." she shrugged.

* * *

Lily walked along the edge of the frozen Black Lake with her hands in her pockets, the cool December wind turning her nose red, her heavy footfalls crunching through the snow covered grounds, and her quiet mutterings making their way out of her mouth and into the cold air like little puffs of smoke.

 _"—not a freak—jealous—Christmas—"_

Even through her furious mutterings and heavy brooding, Lily couldn't help but notice something rustle in the nearby woods, snow on the evergreen's leaves now intermingling with the flurries falling from the sky.

Lily stopped. Her green eyes darted to the trees, then up to the sky. Half-moon. She let out a heavy breath. Ever since the near werewolf attack her second year, the grounds at night made her a little skittish. Tonight, however, the threat of beasts was well worth the risk—she really needed to clear her head.

"It's fine Lily," she told her self. "It was probably just a rabbit or a squirrel..."

The tree rustled again.

"Or maybe a bloodthirsty beast with a hankering for ginger..." she said with a nervous chuckle, backing away.

For a third time the tree rustled, but this time Lily stopped in her tracks, holding her breath, hand reaching for her wand, her bright green eyes watching as some dark animal slowly walked out of the woods and into view.

At first, she couldn't quite make out what kind of beast was staring her down. She could tell it was tall— taller than a squirrel for sure— with large eyes, and had... antlers?

A loud breath of relief escaped her lips. There, standing in front of her, was a gorgeous stag. The shock of it all kept her firmly rooted in place, watching in awe as the deer took a few cautious steps toward her, as if it was afraid it would scare her away. Not that it would, Lily quite liked deer to be honest— a fact that she would take to her grave lest James Potter ever knew.

The stag took a few more steps toward her, and then a few more until it was standing just within arms reach... Strange glasses like markings framing peculiar hazel eyes now came into view in the light of the half moon.

"Ugh! Potter! You little stalker!" she exclaimed, voice not quite holding the same edge it usually did when she scolded him.

Knowing that the jig was up, James transformed back into his human form. "Sorry Evans, I just— you looked so upset... and you didn't have a coat... and it's _really_ cold out..." he said guiltily. "I was going to say something and give it to you earlier, but then I saw you coming and I sort of panicked and went all Bambi..." he said in a breathless rush.

Lily now noticed the thick wool blanket in his arms, despite the fact that he was wearing a heavy winter cloak. "Did you— did you bring that for me?" she asked, pointing to the blanket.

James looked down at the blanket in his arms. "Well, yeah." he said as if it should have been obvious. "Like I said, it's cold and you didn't have a coat—"

"Warming charm..." she said quickly.

James nodded, looking down at the useless blanket awkwardly, hand ruffling up the back of his hair.

"But it's wearing off..." she said.

James's head jerked upward. Grinning, he moved to unfold the blanket and drape it over her shoulders. "There..." he said, taking a step back looking proud as ever, but frowning slightly as he realized Lily still looked weighed down by something. "So, why were you walking around talking to yourself in the middle of a snow storm?" he asked with a awkward smile.

Pulling the blanket tighter around her shoulders, Lily looked down at the ground, shuffling her feet in the snow. "I was uh... getting some things off my mind."

"What kinds of things?"

"Just... things..."

James pushed the perpetually crooked glasses up the bridge of his nose. "How specific." he smirked. Lily gave him an annoyed look and James's smirk fell off his face instantaneously. "Um... Do you want to maybe take a walk?" he asked kindly, gesturing down the path.

Lily pulled the blanket a little tighter. "I don't know..."

"I promise I won't ask you out... and we can forget this ever happened—I know I'm not your favorite person... yet... but you—well you just seem like you need someone to talk with..." he shrugged.

Lily furrowed her brows and thought over his proposal for a moment. "You promise not to ask me out? No flowers or anything? No Sirius popping out of a bush with a big banner or Peter setting off fireworks from the boat house or something?"

James chuckled. "That last one sounds like a pretty good idea... but yes, I promise."

"And we can just pretend this never happened?" she asked suspiciously.

"It will be like I was never here." he said honestly.

As Lily internally deliberated, she came to a shocking realization. For what was possibly one of the first times, James was actually being relatively _un-annoying,_ and despite his jokes, he seemed quite earnest. And he _did_ bring her a blanket so she wouldn't get hyperthermia, which was sweet... little creepy... but sweet nonetheless. She wasn't sure why exactly, but she felt like perhaps walking with him wouldn't be so bad. Besides, she could always hit him with a jelly-legs jinx if he got to be too annoying.

"Okay..." she shrugged, shuffling her feet to begin walking, leaving James stunned in place behind her. She turned back after a few paces. "Well, are you coming?"

James blinked a few times then quickly moved to catch up with her. "Sorry... so, Evans, what's been on your mind?"

Lily took a deep breath to steady herself, eyes focused on the game keepers hut in the distance. "I um... I got a letter from home..." she began, glancing beside her to see James listening intently, face completely serious. "my um— my sister isn't spending Christmas with us this year..." she said slowly. "Said she doesn't want to be around a fr— a-a frea—"

"You don't have to say the word." James said reassuringly.

A brief silence fell upon them.

"I guess that's um... that's the gist of it really." she said awkwardly.

"I'm sorry." James said genuinely after a moment.

Lily smiled slightly. "Thanks..."

They continued to crunch through the fresh snow in surprisingly companionable silence for several more minutes, until Lily took in a deep breath and let out the words that had really been weighing her down, before she even realized what she was doing. "I think she's jealous... my sister..." she began. "I mean, she has to be. That has to be what it is. I mean she wrote to Dumbledore before my first year, begging for him to let her into Hogwarts—which he didn't, obviously—but then all the sudden she decides everyone with magic is a freak?! It's not like I can help it!" she said grumpily, forgetting that annoying James Potter was beside her. "It's so stupid! And now she's just avoiding me like—like she'll catch some weird disease just being around me! Keeps going on about how very _normal_ she is—she makes fun of my classes every time I come home—said I don't even have to dress up for Halloween because of how weird I am already! And Sev doesn't get it! Never has! He can't stand her! But she's my sister! My big sister. My Tunny... How can she hate me so much?" she said.

"I'm sure she loves you, Lily." James said surely, making Lily jump a little as she had forgotten he was still there. Her cheeks burned as she realized just how much she had just said. "I don't see how anyone could ever hate you." he said with the utmost sincerity, looking her dead in the eyes.

Lily's cheeks burned hotter, her words died in her throat, and her heart began to beat a bit too quickly for such a leisurely paced walk.

James ruffled the back of his hair, looking away. "Sorry... I-I didn't mean to—"

"No, it's okay." she said quietly. "But um... it's getting to be a little late, we should really head back—we have that Transfiguration quiz tomorrow..."

James pulled his coat closer. "Yeah, we probably should..."

The two quietly made their way back through the castle under his invisibility cloak, narrowly escaping Mrs. Norris giving them away. Once they reached the common room, there were hardly any people left besides a few fifth year's studying their brains out, much to Lily's relief. She could only imagine Adelaide's reaction if she knew she'd gone for a nighttime stroll with James.

Lily immediately walked toward the the stairs to the girls' dorm, but paused a few steps up, then ran back down to catch James before he headed up to see the boys. "Um... thanks, James... for listening..."

James gave her a goofy grin, messing up the back of his hair. "Anytime, Lily."

* * *

"Lily! You're back!" Mary cheered watching a pink faced Lily Evans walk back into the girls' dorm late that evening. "I um... I found some of that muggle candy you like so much, want some?" she asked, handing her a few of the red Starbursts her aunt sent her.

Lily smiled. "I'd love some! Thank you, Mary!"

Adelaide and Marlene shared a look from their respective beds.

"You seem... chipper." Adelaide said tentatively.

"Erm…"

Marlene smirked. "That blanket looks warm..."

"Oh... um..." Lily looked down and realized she was still walking around with James Potter's heavy wool blanket draped around her shoulders like a cape.

"You know it looks an awful lot like one James has." Adelaide said, causing Lily's anxiety to go through the roof. How was she going to explain why she went on a walk with the boy she had sworn to loath for all of eternity? "I bet his mum got it from the same muggle place as yours, knowing her." she said with a smile.

Lily let out a quiet sigh of relief, making her way to get ready for bed. "I forgot you've been writing her a lot lately." she said, changing the subject.

"Yeah... She kept writing James asking about me but finally got tired of going through the middleman. She invited me to stay with them over Christmas actually. I told her my parents would never let me... but it was still sweet of her to offer..."

"But you're dad's been nice lately, right? Maybe he'll let you go..." Lily said while she brushed her hair.

Adelaide shrugged. "He has... but I dunno... they're still 'blood-traitors' or whatever. He might be nice now, but he's still a bigot."

Mary frowned. "You know, my offer still stands— you can run away to my house whenever you want."

"Thanks Mare." Adelaide smiled, putting on her slippers and grabbing her book bag.

"Are you going somewhere?" Marlene asked slyly. "To see a black haired cutie perhaps?"

Adelaide's face flushed. "No—Yes—I mean..."

"She's going to prep for some big prank tomorrow, Marls." Mary giggled.

"Mhm... sure..." Marlene smirked.

"Okay. I'm leaving." Adelaide said quickly, ears red. "I'll be back later... I can't deal with Remus's snoring two nights in a row..."

* * *

The next morning, Lily walked out of transfiguration feeling confident as ever, and in a considerably improved mood from the day before. Turns out, talking to James was just the thing she needed. But if she was honest, it wasn't just talking to him that helped, it was him listening, his kindness and patience.

But there was something about the whole experience that bothered her deeply. If he was actually capable of being sweet, why did he always act like an arrogant, annoying toe-rag all the time?

As she made her way to the care of magical creatures classroom, she was met by the very person on her mind.

"Morning, Evans!" James said, strutting along side her.

"Potter..."

"You look less... less upset today." he said happily, ruffling up the back of his hair.

"I um... I feel less upset." she said, tucking some of her hair behind her ear.

"Good." James smiled, walking along side her through the corridor. After about a minute of awkward silence, he finally spoke. "So, um... Sluggy's having that Christmas party next week—" he began as they rounded the corner.

"What the heck is that?!"

"Well it's a festive gathering with music and food…"

"No! _THAT_!" Lily exclaimed pointing towards a very large animal waddling through a corridor full of bubbles. Some students ran away in fear (such as a few Hufflepuff first years covered in bubbles and feathers that smelled oddly of Maple syrup) while others thought it was hilarious and stood by throwing the charmed un-poppable bubbles at each other.

"Oh, that's just Wallace." James said casually. "So about the party, Sluggy actually invited me this year—found out my dad owns that hair potion company or something— anyway, I was thinking—"

"What the—are those rubber ducks singing?!" Lily asked, pointing to the array of charmed rubber ducks, floating in the air singing 'Splish Splash' by Bobby Darin.

James was becoming impatient at this point. "Yes. It was Addy's idea." he said shortly. "So, I was thinking maybe we could go together—"

"Why?!" Lily said loudly over all the commotion.

James ruffled the back of his hair. "Well you're pretty and smart and funny..."

Lily felt her face get hotter and her ears burn. "I meant why would you pull a prank like this?"

This time James turned a bit pink. "Oh, um... it's National Bubble Bath day."

"This is kind of impressive." Lily said softly. "But you should have had that sad ghost from the second floor lavatory flood the hall." she shrugged, wriggling her way past the gigantic duck toward class, leaving James completely stunned.

* * *

"All I'm saying is, the Chudly Cannons could still make a come back!" Sirius said that Saturday morning at breakfast.

"Never ever going to happen!" Adelaide laughed, catching a glimpse of James walking toward Lily with some violently pink flowers in his hands. "Oh Merlin... speaking of things that are never going to happen..."

Sirius's head whipped toward the scene playing out down the table.

James stooped on one knee, looking up at the auburn haired girl, handing her the big bundle of fuchsia peonies. "GOOD MORNING MY DEAR, SWEET, SPECTACULAR, LILITH—!"

"—I told you, it's just Lily—"

"—WOULD YOU MAKE ME THE HAPPIEST WIZARD IN THE UNIVERSE BY ACCOMPANYING ME TO HOGSMEADE VILLAGE THIS BEAUTIFUL DAY!" James said loud enough for the whole great hall to hear.

Adelaide leaned over to whisper in Sirius's ear. "Beautiful? He does realize it's practically a blizzard out there, right?"

"He's blinded by love..." Sirius sighed dramatically.

"No, Potter." Lily said in a bored voice, hiding her face with her hair.

"Addy... is Evans blushing?" Sirius asked impishly.

Adelaide leaned around to get a better view, nearly getting her hair in some pumpkin juice (thankfully Sirius moved her hair before it got to that point). "Maybe... hard to tell..." she said, sitting back in the seat.

"I think she was..." he smirked. "Okay, so let's talk about today, I'm thinking we check out the music place first. I want to show you some stuff by this guy named John… or Elton… Not sure… but I think you'll like his stuff… but also so we can... you know." he said wiggling his eyebrows. Adelaide rolled her eyes. "Then we catch up with the guys at Zonko's, and after that we could swing by the three broom sticks and try to convince Rosmerta to slip some fire whiskey in our butterbe—"

Sirius's itinerary was cut short by a large black owl landing on the table in front of them.

"Oh, looks like Papa Fawley sent you another love letter, Pads." Adelaide teased, watching Sirius untie a letter from her stupid annoying family owl's foot.

Sirius rolled his eyes. "I told you, it's not like that..."

"You write my dad more than I do..."

Sirius didn't look up from the letter. "You never write him. Maybe if you did, I wouldn't have to..."

He had her there. "Whatever... what's he want this time?" she asked shortly, leaning to try to read over his shoulder. "By the way, we're going on that double date with Mary and Evan today."

Sirius looked up from the letter and across the hall at the two awkward teens sitting at the Slytherin table and frowned. "Dammit. I forgot about that... well we can't take them to the music store, that's _our_ place. If they find out about it we'll have no where else to snog—"

Adelaide poked the letter he was holding just out of view. "Focus Siri! What's the letter say!"

Still disappointed about his plans being ruined, Sirius continued to read the letter from his girlfriend's father. "He wanted me to remind you that you still have to come home next week—"

"Lovely." she said dryly.

"—and to ask what you want for Christmas." he finished.

Adelaide pouted slightly. "I want to go to the Potter's with you and the others..." she mumbled.

"How about you ask for a record player?" Sirius suggested.

Adelaide rolled her eyes. "That's what _you_ want..."

"Oh yeah... well maybe you could ask for a new broom?"

"I just got a new one a few months ago for my birthday." she said, rolling her eyes. "Ugh, Just tell him to get the stupid record player..." she sighed, looking at her watch then moving to get up.

"Where are you going!?" Sirius asked, looking quite sad, reminding her an awful lot of a kicked puppy.

"Oh calm down you dramatic poodle. I left my purse upstairs and it's nearly time to leave." she said mussing up his hair. "I'll be right back."

"I'll go with you!" he said happily.

"No, you need to stay here and make sure James doesn't keep acting like an idiot just to impress _Lilith_." she smirked, glancing over to James who was now juggling apples a few seats down to try to get the red head's attention.

Suddenly, James lost hold of a few of the apples and sent them flying at top speed toward a group of terrified Hufflepuff first years. The few that ducked in time were now cowering under the table while the others were outright crying from being struck by the fruit and starting to cause a scene.

"Oh Merlin... yeah, you go. I'll handle this." he said, getting up to try to defuse the situation and console the poor little Puffs.

* * *

Once Adelaide reached the girls' dorm and found her purse, and also her hat that she forgot that she forgot, she noticed Lily's blanket once again. It really did look an awful lot like James's, but _his_ had his initials embroidered on the corner and a patch where Sirius had accidentally set it on fire trying to kill a spider... a patch very much like the one on Lily's...

Curious, Adelaide looked around to double check no one else was around, then unfolded the blanket and looked for the corner. There in scarlet threading and pretty font were the letters J.F.P..

"That sneaky little witch!"


	80. Chapter 80

**Chapter 80- Sluggy's Party**

Upon learning that Lily was secretly harboring James Potter's favorite blanket, Adelaide's mind was swirling with questions.How did this happen? Was James the reason she was in such a good mood that Wednesday night? And if so, how was that even possible? After all, Lily begrudgingly tolerated James Potter's presence at the best of times; _despised_ him at the worst.

As she walked back through the castle to the Great Hall with her purple hat (handmade by Remus with little cat ears) in one hand and her handbag clutched in the other, Adelaide mulled over what course of action she was going to take.

She could confront Lily directly, but that might set the sneaky little ginger off... and seeing how upset she was earlier that week, Adelaide wasn't sure if she was really willing to poke that sleeping dragon.

Of course, Adelaide could also just go to James for information. But there were two problems with that option. First, James was prone to hyperbole in matters concerning _Lilith,_ so his information might not be the most reliable. Second, it felt wrong going behind Lily's back... No, that would have to be her last resort.

But, what if she were to just observe Lily for a while? She could see if there was anything different between her and James, and this also gave Lily a chance to explain on her own.

Adelaide decided that she would sit back and simply see how matters unfolded... well until she left for Christmas break that is.

* * *

It would be safe to say Adelaide and Sirius's double date with Mary and Evan was _disastrous_. They quickly learned that Mary and Evan's awkwardness was a lot more entertaining from afar, and suggested that they end their day a bit earlier than originally planned... using the poor weather as an excuse. The only good thing to come of the outing was that Adelaide and Mary got a chance to buy their dresses for the Slug Club Christmas Party.

While Mary hadn't been formally invited by Evan yet, it was a safe bet that he would sputter it out eventually... or so they thought.

"The party is tomorrow, Adelaide. _TOMORROW_! He's hardly talked to me at all since our date... I really think that if he was going to ask he would have done it by now..." Mary said sadly from where she lay on her bed the last Thursday of the semester sometime after lunch. "I mean Sirius asked you with those obnoxious balloons days and days ago! And he wasn't even technically invited!"

"Well... It's not like I was going to take anyone else..." Adelaide chuckled nervously. Truth be told, she was just as anxious about whatever Evan was planning as Mary.

"But you know what I mean!" Mary said exasperatedly. "I was so excited to go... not just to go with him, but to get dressed up and hang out with you and the others too... I bought that dress and everything... but now I'm going to be all alone in this sad cold dorm while you three are out having the night of your lives!" she said, voice getting squeakier the more worked up she became.

"It's going to work out Mare, I promise." Adelaide said reassuringly, cursing herself for promising something like that. "Come on, we should head to class."

"What's the point! My life is over!" Mary said wallowing on the floor in misery, hamming things up slightly.

Adelaide rolled her eyes. "The point is we have a test in Herbology..."

"Shoot. I forgot about that... alright, I'll go... But if I'm not going to a real party, you need to at least let me have a pity party up here when we get back, okay?"

"Sure... Can we just go?" Adelaide asked, throwing her bag over her shoulder.

* * *

Later that evening, after dinner, Adelaide was in the boys' dorm trying to help them get packed up to leave that Saturday, whilst Mary threw herself a pity party.

"Do you really need this many pairs of socks, Remus?" Adelaide asked, gesturing to the thirty-odd pairs of socks piled up beside her.

Remus shrugged as he folded his jumpers. "My feet get cold..."

"Oh! That reminds me! Do you think I can borrow those ones you have with the little dancing Christmas trees for the party tomorrow?" James asked.

"Sure." Remus shrugged, "But I don't think they're going to make Lily any more likely to dance with you..." he smirked.

At mention of Lily, Adelaide's attention immediately left the socks. "I noticed you haven't asked her yet... It's really unlike you to wait until the last minute like this." Adelaide commented, fishing for information.

"I _did_ ask her..." he said in uncharacteristic calmness. "She didn't really answer..."

Adelaide and the boys all gave him a strange look. "You asked her already?" Adelaide clarified. "When?"

"Last Thursday between classes... but like I said she didn't really answer, she was distracted by Wallace..."

Peter nodded. "Understandable."

"But you couldn't have! I would have noticed!" Adelaide refuted. James was notorious for using grand romantic gestures when it came to things like this, and something as special as a Christmas party would surely be worthy of the highest level of Potter fanfare.

James shrugged, poking through Remus's socks for the ones in question. "I didn't really make a big deal of it, I just sort of asked her if she wanted to go together... I mean it worked for you and Pads last year..."

"But that was different..." Sirius interjected. "Addy and I fancied each other..."

"Lily fancies me! She just doesn't know it yet!" James said huffily.

Remus sighed with an amused smile. "I admire your optimism, Prongs."

James looked a little annoyed at this point. "I'm telling you, she's warming up to me!"

The boys all laughed, clearly unconvinced, but there was something about his words that made Adelaide think that there was something he wasn't telling them.

"I believe you." Adelaide said honestly.

"Oh, sure..." James said rolling his eyes.

"No! I really do!" she said walking over to sit on his bed. "Say, Prongsy... where's that blanket? The big wool one Sirius always tries to light on fire—"

"ONCE! It was one time! And that damn spider was the size of a small child!" Sirius said, popping out of the bathroom, wielding a foamy toothbrush.

"Whatever you say Paddy..." Adelaide said cheekily. "So, James... Blanket?"

James looked under his bed in confusion until realization fell upon him. Lily still had it. "Erm... I dunno where it is..." he lied.

Adelaide smirked and leaned closer to him so that the other's wouldn't hear. "I do... she sleeps with it every night."

This was new information to the messy haired boy. "W-wha— really?" he asked with a goofy grin, not even stopping to ask who 'she' was.

Adelaide nodded. "Really."

His face broke out into the cheesiest grin Adelaide had seen in a long while, but it quickly fell into a frown. "Well then why won't she go with me?" he asked, clearly hurt.

"I don't know Prongsy..." she said sadly.

James humphed, and sat down on the bed beside her and started to go on a long tragic tangent about how he would be dancing all alone at Slughorn's Christmas party after she and Sirius eventually ditched him to go snog in a closet.

"We are not going to ditch you to snog in a closet, James." Adelaide assured the distraught boy.

"We're not?" Sirius asked, clearly disappointed.

"Fine, you'll ditch me to snog in some other place, but the point is it's going to be torture without a date." James grumbled.

Adelaide threw herself backwards on his bed. "Ugh! I swear you are just as bad as Mary!"

"Well at least Mary has Evan to be awkward with—" James said bitterly.

"Actually, he never asked her..." Adelaide said. James sat up a little straighter, and gave her a strange look. "Oh no... I know that face..."

"Do you think Mary would like to go to the party with me?" James grinned.

Adelaide sat up. "Are you mental?"

"A little. Now, are you going to answer my question?" James asked impatiently.

Looking at his face, Adelaide could tell he was, in fact, being genuine. "I-I mean, she really wants to go to the party... she bought a dress last weekend and everything... But I think she's still hoping Evan asks her..."

"I thought he was taking that Hufflepuff girl?" Remus said.

" _What_?!" Adelaide screeched incredulously.

"What Hufflepuff girl?" Sirius asked in concern.

Remus seemed to regret saying anything as he took in their response. "Erm... Annabelle Abbott… They're both prefects..."

"UGHH! That man whore!" Adelaide exclaimed, taking her frustration out by throwing James's pillows, and any other belonging of his she could find, across the room.

"I thought—Evan was your— friend?" Peter said, dodging the various items being flung haphazardly in his direction.

"MARY IS MY SISTER! Sisters trump friends... especially sneaky slimy two-timing snake friends..."

"How do you know he asked this Annabelle girl?" James asked.

"I well... Amelia heard that he was going to ask her, or already did, I'm not sure... she talks a lot..." Remus said, blushing slightly.

James started rummaging through his trunk. "Well that settles it." he said, as if this explained everything, pulling out his cloak and the map.

"Erm... Prongs... You going somewhere?" Adelaide asked.

"No, _we_ are going somewhere." he grinned. Adelaide shot him a confused look. "We're going to find Evan and see if he's going to ask Mary or not. If he isn't I'm going to ask her at breakfast... but we have to go now, because I'll need some time to prep... If that snake really is going with someone else I need to make sure it's extra special for her."

Overwhelmed by his kindness for her best friend, Adelaide instantly brought him into a big bone crushing hug. "Awe! You're just a big softy, aren't you, Prongsy?!"

"Yes, yes I am... but don't tell anyone!" he chuckled.

* * *

"He should be right around here... ah ha! Yep! There he is!" James whispered happily from where they stood in a random corridor on the fifth floor, stalking the slippery Slytherin.

"Alright... I'll go. You stay here in case I need to make a quick getaway—" Adelaide started.

"No. I'm going with you." James said.

"But James, I really think—"

"It's not up for discussion, Fawley." James said humorlessly.

"Ugh, fine."

James cautiously stuffed the silvery cloak and map into his rucksack, then walked with Adelaide to confront the Slytherin prefect roaming the hall.

"Addy! James!" Evan said with a dazzling smile. "You know you really shouldn't be out here..."

James grinned. "Oh we know, that's what makes it fun!"

Adelaide whacked him upside the head. "We came here to talk to you. It's erm... a time sensitive matter..."

Evan scratched the back of his neck. "This is about me not asking Mary to the party, isn't it?"

For a moment Adelaide just looked at him, speechless. Obviously he had seen this coming. "So, you really aren't planning to ask her?" she said, heart sinking just thinking about how sad it would make her best friend if he really wasn't planning to ask her.

It took Mary a while to realize that she actually fancied the handsome Slytherin, but once she did... she fell hard. She found his awkwardness endearing, and knew that if anyone could get him to loosen up it would be her... given enough time that is. But Evan never seemed to see things that way, and refuted every hint Adelaide gave him as to Mary's reciprocation of his affection.

James watched as Evan twisted his face into a pained expression.

"I um... well... no, I'm not..." Evan sputtered out.

"But why?! I thought you fancied Mary!" Adelaide said a little too loudly.

"Please keep your voice down! I really don't want to write you two up." Evan pleaded. "And I do fancy Mary. Too much... I can hardly talk to her, Addy!"

"I'm sure she would talk enough for the both of you—" James commented.

"Look, Mary is absolutely wonderful, but I know she only keeps agreeing to go to these things with me because she's your friend—" Adelaide walked up and punched Evan in the arm. "Ow! What the hell?!"

"Ugh! How many times do I have to tell you this! She fancies you! A lot! Probably as much as you fancy her! She told me so herself—"

"Wha—"

"She's been a wreck all week hoping that you would ask her! Remember when we ran off to look at clothes last Saturday? That was to buy our dresses... she was so sure that you were going to ask her that she bought a freaking dress, Evan."

"Shit..." Evan said running his hands through his brown hair, looking down at his feet. "Shit!"

"But you can still ask her tomorrow!" Adelaide said hopefully.

"No! I can't!" he said pitifully. "I-I already asked someone else..."

"Let me guess, Annabelle?" James said with a sigh. Evan nodded, avoiding eye contact.

Adelaide shook her head slowly in disappointment. "You're a bloody idiot, Rosier."

"I know."

* * *

After learning the extent of Evan Rosier's utter cluelessness, James was more determined than ever to make his party proposal as lovely as possible for Mary... and also to make him feel guilty for hurting her...

The next morning, Adelaide walked toward the great hall for breakfast with the other three girls, chatting about the party that would take place that night.

"Mine is a regal blue." Marlene said, commenting on her dress.

"Oh it looks so good on her! Just wait until you see it!" Lily squealed.

"Wait, Marls, who are you going with again?" Adelaide asked.

"Amos Diggory." she shrugged. Adelaide nodded, she should have known he would ask her. It was painfully obvious he had a thing for her, despite the fact that she refused to actually date him.

"Ugh! You know I still cannot get the image of you two snogging out of my head..." Lily complained in disgust.

"We were in a broom closet for goodness sake! It's not like we snog all out in the open like Addy and Sirius!"

"Excuse me?! That has only happened twice! And it was a _lot_ more innocent than whatever you two were doing!" Adelaide defended.

Marlene smirked. "Yeah... you have a point there."

"I bet Evan is snogging some other girl... That's probably why he didn't ask me..." Mary said sadly. "I bet it's a Hufflepuff... he seems like he would go for a Hufflepuff..."

Adelaide leaned over to give her a side hug. "I'm sure that's not true."

"Mary, you know... I'm not going with anyone..." Lily began. "How about you go with me if he doesn't ask by tonight?"

Mary looked up at her, big brown eyes lit up like a kid at Christmas. "Really?!"

Lily giggled. "Really! Besides, it'll be no fun at all without you there!"

Mary launched herself toward the ginger and hugged her fiercely. "Lily Evans, you are living proof that gingers do have souls!"

The girls all giggled as they walked into the great hall and sat at their seats, except Lily who seemed mildly offended.

"Oh boy... watch out Lils, Potter is coming this way..." Marlene smirked, eyeing the messy haired boy strutting their way with a bouquet of baby pink roses in one hand, and his mahogany wand in the other.

"Hello ladies!" James said smoothly.

Adelaide watched as Lily's face turned a little pink. "James, at least wait for me to eat my breakfast—"

Both Adelaide and James instantly noticed that she one, called him by his first name, and two, didn't instantly refuse him as she normally did.

"Actually, I'm not here to talk to you Lilith— I came to ask Mary something." he said, handing the roses to the bewildered brunette.

Lily looked between him and the other girl, eyebrows knitted together. "What?"

"Me?" Mary asked pointing to herself. "Do you need to get your glasses checked, Potter?"

"I can assure you my glasses are in perfect working order." he said somewhat arrogantly. "and yes, I am here to see you, Mary." James then proceeded to flick his wand causing a glittering fireworks display of all different colors to erupt throughout the hall. Everyone was so shocked by this that they nearly missed the big banner levitated above his head with the words, 'Mary McDonald, will you go to Sluggy's Party with me?' written in what Adelaide knew was Sirius's elegant handwriting.

The hall was filled with a mix of awe for his romantic gesture and confusion as to why it was directed toward someone who wasn't Lily Evans.

"Looks like you finally got your wish Lils..." Marlene sniggered to the highly confused redhead.

"So, Mary, will you do me the great honor of going to Slughorn's Christmas party with me?" James grinned from where he stooped on one knee.

Mary looked from James to Adelaide who was giving her a big thumbs up, to a brown haired boy sulking at the Slytherin table. It _was_ very sweet of James to ask her, even if it was a pity date. And he did get her favorite flowers... and she knew she would have fun with him... and who knows, maybe it would make Evan jealous and regret not asking her sooner.

"Sure." Mary shrugged trying to stifle a smile.

Adelaide smiled wide knowing that behind Mary's nonchalance, she had to be excited to have an actual date to the party, even if it wasn't who she hoped it would be. But then, Adelaide noticed Lily's face; her brows were furrowed, her lips were pressed together into a thin line, and she seemed to be breathing a little hard.

After James asked Mary what color she would be wearing, he sat down beside Peter to eat his breakfast. Not two minutes later, Lily excused herself from breakfast, saying she forgot something upstairs... they didn't see her again until class.

* * *

It was later that evening and Adelaide and the other girls were getting ready for the Christmas party, putting on make up, doing their hair, but for some reason Lily's excitement had dwindled significantly since that morning. She looked lost in her thoughts and also a little sad.

"Oi, Lily! Will you help me with my nails?" Adelaide asked from across the room. "There's a charm that'll make the paint glittery... but I can't really do it to myself." she chuckled.

Lily seemed to pull her self away from her far away thoughts. "Oh, um yeah sure."

Adelaide gave her an analyzing look as she pulled out the charms book. "Alright, it's this one here." she said pointing toward the spell.

Lily pulled out her wand and attempted the glitter spell once... then twice... then a third time, but only managed to produce a few glittery flecks, nothing like what was shown in the picture. "I-I'm sorry Addy... I dunno why I'm having such a hard time with this..." Lily said softly.

It really wasn't like Lily to mess up a spell like that. After all, she was nearly as good as Adelaide was in charms. Something must really be messing with her focus, and Adelaide had a feeling she knew what it was.

"Oh, it's okay... the spell just must be written wrong or something." Adelaide lied.

Lily seemed unconvinced, yet appreciative of Adelaide not making it a big deal.

* * *

After a bit more primping and prepping the four girls all trotted down the stairs in their party dresses: Marlene in a royal blue, form-fitting, gown that showed off her curves; Mary in a shiny, gold, beaded dress with a big tulle skirt, bright and flouncy, just like her; Lily in a stunning and elegant, iridescent emerald green dress that brought out her bright green eyes and auburn hair to perfection; and Adelaide in a simple, but gorgeous deep red a-line dress with off the shoulder sleeves and a sweetheart neckline... paired with the most comfortable pair of heels she could manage.

As Adelaide walked cautiously down the stairs to keep from tripping, she felt a whole hoard of butterflies flutter in her stomach. No matter how many of these fancy get togethers she went to, she still got nervous about seeing Sirius... though it might have been more nervous _excitement_ on this particular occasion. She took her last few steps and silently congratulated herself on not tripping... but she celebrated too soon.

On the third to last step, she tripped over nothing and began to tumble toward the floor.

"Oh no you don't!" Sirius said, rushing over to grab her by the waist before she made impact.

Adelaide looked up from where she was currently wrapped up in Sirius's arms and flashed him a sheepish smile. "Thanks for that."

Sirius chuckled and let her free so that he could get a good look at her ensemble. "Good merlin..." he said in a daze, gulping. "Y-you— you look— gorgeous... good merlin."

Adelaide felt her face heat up under his gaze that was now looking her up and down, as if he couldn't really believe that she was actually there to be with him. "You look pretty handsome yourself." she said softly, tucking her sleek white-blonde hair behind her ear.

The other girls had made their way into the common room by this point, and Adelaide couldn't help but notice that James couldn't keep his eyes off of Lily. Thankfully, Mary found this quite amusing.

"I think you're drooling, Potter." she whispered to the boy who's hair, despite copious amounts of sleek-easy's hair potion, still stuck up in odd places.

James slowly drug his eyes away from the glowing goddess that was Lily Evans, over to Mary, and reminded himself that this night was not about him; this night was about making Mary feel important and to help her have the best night ever regardless of Evan Rosier's stupidity.

The group (minus Marlene and Remus who went to meet up with their Hufflepuff dates) began their hike up through the castle to Slughorn's party. They chattered mindlessly, all full of excitement and anticipation for the evening... well most of them were excited. Adelaide noticed that Lily seemed a little quiet. Sure, she was walking alongside James and Sirius, but that never stopped her from poking fun at their annoying ways before.

* * *

Once they reached the crowed room, the party was well on its way. All around people were smooshed together dancing to the loud music in the corner, or chatting loudly with drinks in their hands. Little house elves scurried around the stuffy room under large platters of drinks and horderves.

"Come on Addy! Let's go dance!" Sirius said dragging her to the dance floor during a particularly lively song, soon followed by James and Mary.

Lily stood alone, looking for Severus, hoping that the presence of her best friend would ease whatever funk she found herself in.

The whole day had been strange... well, if she was being honest things had beens strange for a while. She tried very hard to suppress those pesky feelings of hers regarding James Potter, reminding herself that he was nothing but an arrogant bully. But even that wasn't entirely true. He was most certainly an arrogant toerag and a bully, but he was also a fierce and thoughtful friend. He was both admirable and detestable... and it was driving Lily crazy.

"Lily!" said Severus moving his inky black hair out of his face. "You look... wow."

"Thanks Sev!" Lily said, trying to put on a happy face... but failing miserably.

"What's wrong? I saw you come in with _Potter_..." he said, curling his lip at the boy's name. "Did he do something to upset you again?"

"No... No, he's with Mary..." she said distractedly. "Can we just get some food or something? I think I'm just a bit peckish."

Severus didn't look entirely convinced, but walked with her to the snack table.

"How about I grab us some punch?" he suggested with a smile, trying to brighten her mood.

Lily smiled a bright genuine smile at his kindness. "Sure! That would be lovely! Thank you, Sev!"

While Severus left to grab the drinks, Lily leaned against the table and observed her friends from afar, feeling removed from the party, almost like she was watching a tv program. She watched as Marlene walked hand in hand with Amos Diggory toward a corner of the room, to snog, knowing her.

Then she watched Adelaide and Sirius being absolutely adorable together, each making up silly dance moves and laughing hard as the other managed to make them even sillier. Lily may have disagreed with Sirius's behavior in many cases, but she could not deny how good he was to Adelaide. Lily was quite certain that he would do anything to protect her, and that was an admirable quality in her book.

But finally her gaze drifted toward Mary... but Lily was surprised to find that she was no longer dancing with James, but with Evan Rosier... and blushing like mad. Meanwhile a fifth year Hufflepuff Lily knew from potions club, Annabelle Abbott watched from afar, looking a little disappointed from where she stood beside Remus and his friend Amelia Bones.

Lily glanced around, to look for Severus... or so she told herself, but caught sight of a gangly boy with perpetually messy black hair, reaching out his hand to dance with a second year girl Lily knew as Eloise Corner.

Lily knew the chubby, but incredibly sweet Ravenclaw girl from her study sessions in the library with the younger students, and knew she was often teased about her weight by other nasty students. Today, she looked as if she had been crying, but as James spoke to her, a bright smile stretched across her face. Lily quietly watched as James Potter led her onto the dance floor and spun her around in a perfectly executed waltz, making the young girl giggle in the process—

"Here you go!" Severus said, pulling Lily from her people watching and handing her the frothy raspberry punch. "They had watermelon as well, but I know you hate watermelon, so I went with the raspberry." he said kindly.

"Thank you, Sev." Lily said sweetly, taking a sip of the drink, and wondering why she even hated watermelon to begin with.

"Um... You know we don't have to stay here if you don't want..." Severus said, still trying to find a way to pull Lily out of whatever seemed to be eating her up.

"No!" Lily said quickly and loudly, then feeling herself blush slightly. "I-I don't want to leave just yet..."

Severus looked a bit disappointed. "Oh..."

"Do you— do you want to dance, Sev?" Lily asked hopefully.

Severus made a look of disgust. "No. But you can if you want to... I think Pyrites is here with Yaxley..."

Lily looked at him sharply, green eyes ablaze. "I don't like those guys." she said with a razor's edge to her voice. "They're just as bad as Avery and his thugs."

Severus looked a little annoyed for half a second, but quickly returned to his usual face of impassiveness. "They are my friends, Lily... Obviously they are half-wits, but they're harmless—"

"I dunno, Sev... Reggie told me they fancy the dark arts." Lily said, running a hand through her smooth auburn hair.

"I'm sure _Reggie_ would know all about that..." Severus said as he rolled his eyes. "You trust me, don't you?"

Lily sighed deeply. "Yes, of course I do."

"Well then trust me when I say they are harmless."

Lily pursed her lips, and decided this was not a conversation she really wanted to have this night. "I think I'll go dance. You have fun with your _friends."_ she said, setting down her drink cup and walking away towards the dance floor. Severus reached out a hand to stop her, but lowered it without a sound, watching her leave with an uncharacteristic amount of sadness, unbeknownst to the redhead.

Walking aimlessly toward the crowd of twirly persons, Lily regretted not going to stand with Remus instead. _I don't even know how to dance,_ she thought to herself, _so why in the world would I—_

"Oi Evans!" called a chipper voice from behind her.

The auburn haired girl instinctively turned to face the source, and found a gangly boy in handsome dress robes giving her a lopsided grin, and pushing his perpetually crooked classes up the bridge of his nose.

"Fancy a dance, Evans?" James asked, reaching out a hand.

Lily looked at his hand then up to his hazel eyes, then back down to his hand. "I-I— I can't—"

James nodded, lowering his hand and hanging his head low in disappointment.

"I mean— I erm— don't know how too... uh... dance..." Lily said, surprising both of them.

Looking up at her with soft eyes, James gave her a genuine smile. Not a smirk, not a grin, but a simple, heart melting smile. "I can teach you, if you'd like." he said, ruffling up the back of his hair.

Lily licked her lips, glancing over to where Severus stood chatting with his sketchy friends, then over to the round Ravenclaw girl who seemed to be having a much better time than she was before, then finally back to the boy standing in front of her.

"Um... okay." she said, shrugging as she tried to come off nonchalant.

James stood staring at her for a moment, but quickly held out his hand and watched in disbelief as she reached for it. He pulled her in smoothly, and began to explain the basics. "Alright, so you just put this hand here, and then grab mine with the other... and then we just step like this— one, two, three—one, two, three... there you go! You're a natural!" he said, glowing with pride.

Lily felt herself smile, cheeks burning. "Oh— oops!" she said, as she accidentally stepped on his toe, quickly glancing up to face him.

James chuckled. "It's fine, you'll get the hang of it." he said kindly, before twirling her around, and pulling her back in. "I hear the spinning is the best part..." he smirked.

A tinkling laugh escaped Lily's lips. "It was pretty fun..." she said softly as they slowly glided to the music, oblivious to the world around. "How do you know how to do this so well?" she asked after a while, feeling herself becoming more and more comfortable and curious about the boy she detested.

"Oh, this is all mum's doing!" he laughed. "She insisted that I learn how to dance when I was younger... comes in handy every now and again. But Addy and Sirius are the pros!" he chuckled.

Lily looked up at him curiously. "What?"

"Well they grew up in all that uppity pureblood society and learned how to dance as soon as they could walk." he explained. "They can waltz, foxtrot— I think they can even swing dance, but I doubt their parents approved of that last one." he chuckled.

"I-I never knew that." she said in astonishment.

"Yeah, not many people do... they usually just dance all goofy for the hell of it. I've only ever seen them actually dance a few times... but it was incredible."

"Well... you're really not so bad yourself." Lily said shyly, trying very hard not to step on his foot again.

James grinned, then twirled her around once again, bringing her back into his arms a little breathless from her spin. "Oh, that really is fun." Lily giggled, again moving in step with the music, unaware that a new song had begun. "So, what happened to Mary?" she asked, avoiding eye contact.

"Oh, she's still here!" James said happily. "She and Rosier had a lovely chat about why he invited that Hufflepuff instead of her." he said with a smirk.

"He invited another girl!?" Lily asked incredulously, stepping on James's toe in her momentary lapse of focus. "ah! I'm so sorry I keep doing that..."

"Lily, it's fine. Really, it doesn't even hurt." James said reassuringly. "But yes... he did. That's why I asked her to go with me actually." he said, glancing to see Lily's reaction and finding that she looked neither upset, nor happy, but confused. "Well I was going to ask her anyway as soon as Addy said how sad she was about not going to the party, but then we tracked Evan down last night and he gave some lame excuse— apparently he had no idea she fancied him. Anyway, I just wanted to make it special for her since he was being such a prat."

Lily looked at him, confused as to how someone capable of such kindness could also be such an infuriating jerk at other times. "That was very nice of you." she said softly, almost hoping her words would be drowned out with the music.

"You could sound a little less surprised about it." James teased. Lily looked up at him in semi annoyance, and found herself counting the colors in his hazel eyes and envying the fact that his eyelashes were longer than her own.

"Lily?!" said a slightly nasally voice from behind her.

"Get lost Snivellus." James said in a bored tone.

Lily looked over at her best friend, eyeing the two of them in a mix of anger and betrayal, and suddenly she came to her senses. This was James Potter she was dancing with. The same James Potter who callously bullied and pranked her best friend on a weekly basis just for the fun of it. In an instant, she pushed herself away from the gangly boy, feeling a little cold without his warmth beside her.

"Thank you for teaching me, Potter, but I really must be going..." she said shortly, walking away toward the punch bowl, followed soon after by Severus.

"What the hell was _that?"_ Severus asked, indignant. "When you said you wanted to dance, I didn't realize you wanted to dance with that— that pig headed idiot!"

"That was _not_ why I wanted to dance! He just offered to teach me and I let him, that was it!" Lily said, voice getting higher as she became more emotional, desperately trying to ignore the part of her that enjoyed dancing with him...

Severus let out a scoff. "That's not what it looked like."

"You know what, this doesn't even concern you! I just want to have a nice night without having to discuss who I do or do not dance with, okay?"

"Lily, I'm only trying to look out for you! I can't just stand and let you make a fool of yourself with him."

"— Let me? _Let me?"_

"—I didn't mean it like that... I just — I don't see how you can stand to be around someone who's ego is the size of a mountain." Severus said, trying to backtrack. "I don't want you to get hurt Lils."

"I get it... but I really think I need some space right now, Sev." she said, moving away and heading aimlessly back toward the crowd, hoping she didn't run into James again.

"Lily! Lils! Wait up!" called a melodic voice to Lily's right. She looked over and saw Adelaide's bright white hair bobbing toward her, face holding an unreadable expression, per usual. Lily's mind briefly wandered to a mental image of her and Sirius dancing together gracefully, only to spontaneously break out into the head banging and arm flailing they were exhibiting earlier.

"Lily! Merlin, you're a tough person to find!" Adelaide said a little out of breath. "Can we talk?"

Lily felt her heart thump harder against her chest. "Uh... sure."

* * *

Adelaide led Lily toward a semi-quiet corner of the room with a few chairs and some abandoned half drunk drinks and snacks laying about on random tables. Taking a deep breath to steady her own nerves, she noticed Lily biting her nails.

"So, I'm just going to get right to it... I know the blanket is James's, Lily." Adelaide said firmly.

Lily froze like a deer in the headlights.

"I also know that you were disappointed this morning when James asked Mary to the party and not you—"

"—No! I wasn't! I-I—"

"And I saw the way you were with him on the dance floor just now..."

Again, Lily froze.

"Is there something you want to tell me?" Adelaide asked.

Lily remained silent for a long few moments. "He— he um... brought me the blanket that night I was upset... I was just trying to clear my head outside, but he was afraid I would be cold without a jacket— and the warming charm was wearing off anyways— so I just took the blanket... but then we somehow ended up going on a walk... and usually I can't stand to be around him but he was... different... and my head was all jumbled because of my sister and the letter..." Lily rambled. Adelaide wasn't sure what her sister had to do with anything, but she knew she was horrible, and figured she was probably why Lily was in such a bad mood that day. "and I just ranted on an on about all this stuff— stuff I haven't told anyone... and he was so nice about it. It was like he was a completely different person!"

"I've been telling you for ages he's a big softy." Adelaide said rolling her eyes with a small smile.

"Yes, well... I've just been... confused ever since that night. And then he danced with sweet Eloise tonight when she was sad, and then he was so... normal. I dunno, I just... I'm so confused, Addy!"

"What's so confusing?" Adelaide chuckled.

"What's confusing is how he can be such an arrogant toerag and bully... then be so sweet." Lily said huffily. "It's very troubling."

Adelaide eyed the girl carefully. "You fancy him, don't you?"

"No!" Lily gasped mostly out of reflex. "No, I mean... I don't know..." she said slowly, as if she was in horror that those were the words coming out of her mouth. "I don't know..."

"Well, just know I'm here for you whenever you figure it out, alright?" Adelaide said giving her a reassuring smile.

Lily smiled back. "Alright."

"Now, would you like to get back to the party? I think there are a couple of cupcakes over there with our names on them." Adelaide smirked.

Lily chuckled. "I think I'm going to go see what Remus is up to actually."

"Suit yourself." Adelaide shrugged getting up to find Sirius once more. "But, I'm sure James would love to dance with you again!" she called over her shoulder, sniggering as she saw Lily's face turn bright red.


	81. Chapter 81

**Chapter 81- A Terrible, Terrible Mistake**

As Adelaide's eyes fluttered open from a rather strange dream about Dorris and Wallace having a tea party, she was greeted by the rather relaxing feeling of someone playing with her hair. She squirmed a bit where she was laying against Sirius's chest in the cramped train compartment, then quietly listened to the boys prattle on about their Christmas plans at the Potters'.

"...Mum's making her famous Potter Wassail, and Dad said there's ice skating in the muggle village nearby—"

"B-but I can't skate..." Peter said nervously.

Remus laughed. "It's alright, neither can Padfoot!"

Adelaide let out a soft chuckle at the mental image of Sirius and Peter floundering and flailing trying to ice skate whilst Remus and James elegantly twirled around them.

"Oh, you're awake." Sirius said with a sweet smile, looking down at her with his bright grey eyes. Adelaide idly imagined how lovely it would be to wake up to those eyes everyday as she pulled herself upright, joints popping and cracking as she stretched after sleeping for so long.

"Have a nice nap?" Remus asked kindly.

"Uh huh." Adelaide nodded, yawning loudly. "What time is it?" she asked no one in particular.

Peter glanced down at his watch, "Nearly two, we still have a few hours until..."

Peter didn't need to finish his sentence. Adelaide knew all too well what awaited her at the end of their train ride. Home sweet home. Cold heavy dread fell over her just at the thought, causing her shoulders to slump.

Sirius, knowing where her mind must have been going, wrapped his arm around her waist to pull her close once again, then kissed the top of her head. He would have done anything to spare her from having to go back to that place, despite being reasonably certain that her crazy mother wouldn't hurt her with her father around.

"Well, now that you're awake, do you want to help us prank Snivellus?" James asked, obviously trying to brighten her mood with a distraction.

Adelaide shrugged. "Sure, why not."

* * *

The plan was simple; Adelaide would serve as a distraction, Remus and Peter would run interference and look out, while James and Sirius went under the cloak to execute the prank.

Cautiously, Adelaide made her way through the narrow corridor toward the large open air train car the Slytherins usually congregated in. She would have much rather been the one pranking rather than the one distracting, but she was the only one with a plausible reason for being there. So, with a deep steadying breath, she walked into the snake pit, eyes searching until they found her slimy haired, hook nosed target.

"Addy! What are you doing here?" Regulus said brightly with a big smile from where he sat across from Severus. This was turning out better than expected—she thought she'd have to make up some excuse about relaying a message from Lily to explain her being there, but now she could serve as a distraction _and_ hang out with a friend.

"Looking for you, actually!" she lied, feeling Sirius and James move behind her, invisible under the cloak. "We didn't get to have breakfast together this morning since I was still packing, and I thought maybe we could hang out for a bit now..." she said a little shyly, eyeing his less than friendly companions. "But I can just go if it's a bad time..."

"Not a bad time at all." Regulus smiled wide and patted the empty seat beside him, much to the annoyance of his fellow Slytherins.

Adelaide quickly sat down with a smile.

"Addy, this is Corban Yaxley," Regulus said politely, gesturing to a relatively tall boy across from him. He was about her age with light blonde hair and hard, blunt features. "this is Antonin Dolohov," he next gestured to the burly boy with a long, pale, twisted face seated on his other side. "and erm I guess you already know Sev..." he said a bit uncomfortably as Severus looked at her impassively. "Guys, this is my friend I told you about, Adelaide Fawley."

"You've been talking about me, eh?" Adelaide laughed.

Regulus scratched the back of his neck. "All good things, I promise." he said with a sly smile.

"Fawley?" said Corban, face contorting into a rather unpleasant smile. "So, you're the little princess—"

"Don't call her that." Regulus said quickly in a low voice.

Corban's unpleasant smile widened. "My apologies."

Dolohov's lips twisted into what Adelaide guessed was supposed to be a smile as well. "Is it true you can do wandless magic?" he asked bluntly, catching the girl off guard.

She stared blankly at him for several seconds, blinking a few times in surprise, heart thumping hard against her chest. How did they know that? "W-what?"

"There's a rumor going around that you can do wandless magic— something about you hexing some antlers on Avery one time last year..." Regulus informed her quietly.

"Oh." She remembered the incident well... and internally cursed herself for being so careless, though regretted nothing—he deserved what he got.

"So, is it true?" Dolohov asked again.

"Erm—"

"Of course it's not true!" Corban said harshly to the other boy. "Do you honestly think a thirteen year old _girl_ could do wandless magic that advanced?" he scoffed.

Adelaide didn't even have time to be properly offended before Severus spoke. "I don't think her being a _girl_ has much to do with it..." he said in an almost bored tone. Adelaide looked at him as if he'd grown a third head, or perhaps used shampoo properly. Had he really just defended her? "She obviously doesn't have the emotional discipline needed to achieve such a feat."

Nope. He was just looking to insult her more creatively. Adelaide scowled, opening her mouth to snap at him, but was quickly cut off by Dolohov.

"She _obviously_ did something to impress the Dark Lord—" he began, words cut off by the venomous look on Regulus's face.

"I think that's enough." Regulus said through his teeth, "You know, Addy is an excellent artist—"

"What do you mean I 'impressed the Dark Lord'?" Adelaide asked sharply, face hard and dangerous, eyes narrowed on the pale faced boy like a bird of prey.

Dolohov looked to his friends for help, obviously intimidated by the petite, yet terrifying, pale-blonde girl in front of him. "Um... well everyone knows you're his favorite or whatever— Avery's dead jealous—"

"What?!" she said shrilly.

Corban rolled his eyes. "Everyone knows it's true, no use denying it."

A blank look etched itself onto Adelaide's face. Apparently, everyone— or at least all the Slytherins— knew that Riddle was obsessed with her. Lovely. Just lovely. So this was why Avery hated her so much. He wanted to be Riddle's star pupil.

"It's all just rumors, Addy..." Regulus said softly, but he knew just as well as she did that they were right.

Adelaide swallowed hard. "You know, it was lovely to meet you two, but I really should get back to my friends—"

"You mean that filthy blood-traitor boyfriend of yours?" Corban smirked.

"Don't call him that." Adelaide growled.

Corban let out a hoarse laugh. "That's what he is Princess—"

"—but I heard the Dark Lord is recruiting him too—?"

"For the love of merlin, Dolohov! Keep your bloody mouth shut!" Regulus snapped.

Adelaide was seething, heart racing. She couldn't exactly refute what they were saying, it was all true (minus the insults). But she also wasn't going to stick around just to listen to these people she didn't even know act as if Riddle's sick obsession with her was something to be proud of. So, with her jaw clinched, she stood up from her seat and walked straight toward the exit.

"Oh, Princess! Lovely of you to grace us with your presence!" sneered the cold voice of Avery, eliciting a chorus of sniggers from his goons and admirers.

She did her best to ignore him, but her hand reached for her wand, just in case.

"Oi, you're leaving so soon?" a buck toothed girl called out, cackling as Adelaide ignored her.

"Everyone wave goodbye to the Pureblood Princess!" Avery sneered causing a good portion of the train car to wave at her mockingly.

"Addy! Wait!" Regulus called from behind her. She could feel his footsteps as he trotted to catch up with her. As soon as she was free of the snake infested train car, Adelaide turned on her heel and faced the curly headed boy, the handsome features of his face marred with guilt.

"I'm so sorry! I-I had no idea they would say all that, Addy!" Regulus said.

"Why are you even friends with those guys?!" Adelaide asked incredulously.

Regulus ran his hands through his hair. "I'm not! Not really... I talk with them, but only because I have to—"

"—You _don't_ have to—"

"What do you expect me to do Addy?! Just ignore everyone in my house?" Regulus huffed.

"You have Evan!"

Regulus let out a humorless laugh. "You do realize he's two years ahead of me, right? _And_ a prefect? _And_ studying for his O.W.L's? _And —_ "

"Okay! I get it!" she said in annoyance, "But surely there are other people like him that you can be around instead of those troll brained idiots—!"

"No Addy! There _aren't!"_ Regulus said sharply. "There's no one else near my age that meets your standards—"

"—My standards? My s _tandards?!— "_

"You know what I mean." Regulus grumbled.

"My _standards_ are that they don't revere a murderous, mind snooping, lunatic with a made up name!" She waved her arms in the air in anger. "Sorry, I set the bar so high!"

"Addy, you and I both know it's not as simple as—" Regulus tensed as he saw someone walking up behind Adelaide. "Great... just great..." he muttered.

"Addykins, you okay over here?" Sirius asked walking up beside her, wrapping his arm around her protectively, eyeing his brother in suspicion.

"Just dandy." She rolled her eyes. "I was actually just leaving... see you around _Regulus_." she said coldly, turning on her heel and continuing her walk down the train corridor. Her heart twinged when she heard a faint, "I'm sorry..." come from somewhere behind her.

Sirius jogged to catch up with her. "I heard that stuff they said, Ads... you okay?"

"I'm fine." she said tightly. She wasn't fine. "Did you plant the dung bombs?"

"Erm yeah... We did... Addy, I know you're not okay—" his hand reached for her arm

"I don't want to talk about it." she said, shirking him off. "Can we—can we just go sit down?"

Sirius gave her a long, analyzing look. He could see in her eyes that what those idiots said on the train bothered her much more than she would ever let on. However, he also knew that he only had a few hours left with her, and he didn't particularly fancy spending them talking about Slytherins, or stupid Voldy. So, with a sigh he said, "Sure, I think James has some more chocolate frogs if you want to—"

"Um... I actually meant... just us?" Sirius gave her a mischievous look and she knew exactly where his mind was headed. "Not to snog," she sighed. "I just want to spend some time with you before we leave..."

"Can spending some time with me include a little snogging?" Sirius winked.

Adelaide tried to fight a smile. "Maybe... if you can catch me." she said, flipping her hair and running away.

Sirius grinned and chased after her. Adelaide ran until she came across an empty compartment. Grinning, she spared a mischievous look back at Sirius then scurried into the compartment, closing the door behind her— successfully locking him out.

"It's going to be very difficult to snog through a window, but I suppose we could give it a go." Sirius smirked, listening to Adelaide's melodic laugh on the other side of the door, watching her face brighten with the infectious smile upon her lips —the smile he would do anything to keep there.

"You have to say the magic words!" she giggled through the door.

"Alohomora?" he guessed.

Adelaide pressed her lips together to keep from smiling, shaking her head. Her nearly white hair seemed to glow from the sunlight filtering in through the window.

"Portaberto?" he tried again.

"I'm very impressed that you know that one... but no."

"Open sesame?" he said with a goofy grin.

"No!" she giggled.

"Oh come on, Ads, just let me in... " Sirius whined, looking at her through the glass with the most heartbreaking puppy dog eyes imaginable, pouting a bit for extra effect.

Adelaide couldn't handle how cute he looked with his pouty lips and big grey eyes. Within seconds, the door whirled open and she grabbed him by the collar and pulled him in with another giggle, shutting the door behind her.

"Well that worked much quicker than expected." Sirius laughed, making himself comfortable on the bench, kicking his feet up to rest on the other side.

"What can I say, I'm a sucker for the kicked puppy look." Adelaide shrugged whilst she closed the blinds— you know, in case they really did snog.

"I'll keep that in mind..." He chuckled then pulled her down by the waist to sit beside him, causing her to let out a little squeak.

Adelaide happily snuggled up into his side, resting her head on his chest listening to him hum muggle songs with his arm around her, lazily playing with her hair. For a long while they simply basked in each other's presence. Adelaide tried to memorize every part of how it felt to be beside him. The thrumming beats of his heart, the steadiness of his breath, the way he smelled like clean laundry, leather, and something else that she never could quite place—something that was uniquely _him_.

Slowly, as she traced little shapes onto his shirt, Adelaide's mind began to wander to the thoughts she'd tried so very hard to ignore all day. Ever since they began dating a couple of months prior, they'd hardly gone a few hours without seeing each other. How was she going to handle being away from him for _weeks?_ How was _he_ going to handle it? Merlin knew that boy was as clingy as they came— not that Adelaide ever minded.

"Siri." Adelaide mumbled after a while.

"Yes, love?"

She turned around so that she could face him properly, resting her chin on his chest and looking up at him with big green eyes. "Will you do me a favor?"

Sirius looked back at her with soft eyes, gently moving a bit of her hair behind her ear. "Anything." he smiled.

"I need you to find the mirror." she said softly. "The one that—"

"I know which mirror." he said softly, fingers still playing with her hair.

Adelaide readjusted, snuggling into his chest once more. "So, will you look for it— before you go to the Potters' house?"

Sirius hesitated for a long moment, then took a deep breath. "Yes... I will... But only because I think I might die if I don't see your cute face for two weeks." he chuckled.

Adelaide turned to face him with a sly smile. "You think I'm cute?"

"Nah... I think you're adorable." he smirked, watching her face turn a little pink. "Merlin, especially when you do that..."

She quickly smooshed her face into his chest in an effort to hide her blush. "Stop it." she mumbled. It didn't matter how much time passed, she was fairly certain she was never going to get used to his constant attempts to make her blush.

"We really need to work on your compliment acceptance again, Fawley." he tutted. "You do realize you're in for years of this, right?"

"Years?" she said quizzically, moving to look at him, her stomach in knots and her face smiling involuntarily... until she remembered how limited their time together really was. "I think future husband might be a bit miffed with you calling me _adorable_ all the time."

"I don't think I'll mind at all..." he smirked.

Adelaide's face burned as she felt herself literally melting from his charm. "Promise?" she asked seriously.

Sirius peered down at her with a striking amount of intensity, marveling, not for the first time, at how lucky he was to have someone as lovely as her in his life. Someone who looked at him as if he was the only boy in the world. She was the most important person in his life and he would be damned if he ever let something as ridiculous an arranged marriage pull them apart.

His hand reached up to tuck her hair behind her ear once more (her stubborn locks never stayed put for very long) and his thumb brushed across her lower lip, trailing down to her chin, fingers then gently tilting her face as he leaned closer. Adelaide's gaze danced between his eyes and his mouth, her breath hitching as he began to close the distance between them. Then, with a spark, his lips met hers, soft, sweet, and conveying a deep emotion he couldn't quite put into words. Moving together as easily as breathing. Slowly he pulled away, his stomach in knots, but his heart warm. "I solemnly swear." he said with a soft smile.

* * *

Adelaide heaved her trunk down toward the platform, struggling under its weight, her hair flying in her face and sticking to her mouth.

"Addykins, please just let me help you with that." Sirius said for what felt like the hundredth time.

Adelaide blew the hair out of her face with a puff of annoyance. "No! I can do it on my own!" she snapped. "I'm very strong."

"Everyone knows you're strong Addy." James chuckled. "Problem is that you're still so tiny." he said, patting the top of her head.

"Just because you all keep shooting up like a bunch of damn weeds, does not mean I am tiny!" she protested, yanking her trunk down a bit more until she was finally onto the actual platform and away from the flow of traffic. A little out of breath, she leaned against the trunk for a small break, intentionally keeping her eyes from drifting, lest she spot her beloved mother.

"James! Why didn't you help her with her trunk! We raised you to be a gentleman!" a woman's voice scolded.

"We tried, Mum! She wouldn't let us!" he whined moving in to give the older woman a big hug.

Adelaide instantly recognized the woman with deep laugh lines around her mouth, dark reddish brown hair pulled up neatly, and little wrinkles around her eyes. "Um... Hello Mrs. Potter..." she said politely, feeling quite shy. Sure, she'd been writing the kind older woman for a while now, but this was only the second time she'd ever met her.

"Adelaide! Sweetheart! It's so good to see you!" she said, moving to wrap the small girl in a warm embrace, stroking her head tenderly. Her hug made Adelaide feel so safe, and warm, and loved, that she honestly never wanted to let go... but of course she did... but not for a long while.

"Hug hogger..." James grumbled half-jokingly.

"Erm... Addy?" said a girl from somewhere behind Adelaide.

"Hi Lily!" Adelaide beamed (she was in a particularly good mood after that hug). "You leaving?"

"Yeah." she said sadly, "Just wanted to say goodbye before your mother shows up and realizes I'm not really Mary's cousin." she laughed lightly.

Adelaide and Lily said their tearful goodbyes, then Lily walked off, leaving James to stare at her as she went. Before she made it too far, however, she turned back. "Um... happy Christmas, James." she said quickly, before practically running away.

"So _that's_ Lily." Mrs. Potter smirked, mussing up her grinning son's already messy hair.

"No, that was _Lilith_..." Sirius said slyly, earning a playful thwack from a blushing James.

Adelaide said her goodbyes to Peter and Remus, promising that their presents would arrive at the Potters' house in time for Christmas, then turned back to stand with Mrs. Potter, James, and Sirius, before her parents arrived... or got fed up of waiting for her to come find them.

"Adelaide, can I speak with you in private for a moment dear?" Mrs. Potter said.

The first thing that ran through Adelaide's mind was that she had done something wrong. Somehow, she'd unknowingly done some horrible thing, but Mrs. Potter being a sweet as she was, would now tell her in private how big of a screw up she was.

Of course this couldn't be further from the truth.

Adelaide nodded and walked with the woman just out of earshot of the boys, her face hardening to hide the panic within.

"Sweetie, I just wanted to tell you that you are always welcome at our home." Euphemia said sincerely. "I know that your home life isn't the most... _nurturing..._ and I want you to know that if you ever need help... if you are ever hurt... You can come straight over to our house, no questions asked. We will keep you safe." she said, brows furrowed with the seriousness of her words.

"I— I— th-thank you." Adelaide said in shock, looking up at the woman as if she were a guardian angel. Sure, Sirius had been saying for years how he would kidnap her, and Mary always offered up her home with the promise of her mum's stellar mashed potatoes, but to hear an adult actually care— actually offer to help her—it was unheard of.

Mrs. Potter smiled at her kindly, stroking her cheek in a motherly fashion Adelaide wasn't accustom too. "I want you to have this..." she said, placing a small drawstring bag into Adelaide's hands. "It's Floo powder. I imagine your parents lock yours away in case you ever tried to leave... If you feel like you aren't safe anymore Adelaide, I want you to use this to come to our home. Do you understand?"

Adelaide nodded, tears brimming in her eyes. She swallowed hard to keep from crying and hugged the woman so tight she was a little afraid it would hurt her. But she just couldn't tell her in any other way how grateful she was. It was a simple gift, but to someone who had been trapped their whole life, a real chance at freedom meant the world.

After a few more _thank you's_ from Adelaide and _it's nothing dear's_ from Mrs. Potter, the two moved back over to where Sirius and James were lurking before they could cause too much mayhem, chatting happily until a slender woman in dark robes showed up to spoil the fun.

"Euphemia." greeted the woman. Her icy cold voice sent chills down Adelaide's spine, causing her to unconsciously move closer to Sirius.

"Cathryn, how lovely to see you." Mrs. Potter said kindly, as if it really was lovely to see her. Adelaide couldn't tell if she was faking, or if she was genuinely that nice.

"You've been in good health, I trust?" Cathryn said tightly, eyeing her daughter snuggling up beside a blood traitor who's arm was now around her waist.

"I have, thank you for asking. You?" Mrs. Potter said.

"Yes, though I am a bit tired from waiting around for this one..." she said with an attempt at a warm laugh.

A look of sadness washed over Mrs. Potter's face, looking at the pale-blonde girl clearly terrified to leave. "Well... we best not be keeping you..."

"Come, Adelaide." her mother said, grabbing her arm painfully and trying to pull her away.

"Can't I say goodbye first?" Adelaide asked desperately.

Cathryn didn't want to start a scene, especially not with perfect Euphemia around to judge her. "Very well, but make it quick. We have plans for this evening and we're already running behind schedule."

First, Adelaide gave Mrs. Potter another quick hug, then she turned to her son. James hugged her tight, like he was prone to do, and lifted her up a little causing her to giggle. "Love you, Tuffy." he said as he set her down gingerly, mussing up her hair in a brotherly way.

Then, Adelaide said the goodbye she wished she didn't have to make. She buried her head into Sirius's chest whilst he kissed the top of her head, muttering "It's okay, love. I'll see you soon." into her hair.

Before Sirius had even let her go, Adelaide felt a hand clutch her arm painfully once again, attempting to rip her right out of his arms.

"Wait, where's her father?" Sirius asked, trying to hide the panic in his voice.

"That is a private matter that need not concern _you_." Cathryn growled.

"Actually, I think it does." Sirius said lowly through his teeth, unhinging the woman's bony fingers from his girlfriend's arm and pulling her toward him protectively.

"Sirius..." Adelaide warned. She appreciated his protective nature normally, but today she was afraid it would not end so well.

Sirius looked at her with a mix of anger, frustration, sadness, and desperation. "Addy, I'm not letting you go home with her, I-I can't—"

Adelaide caught the dangerous look in her mother's eyes, then turned to face him, cupping his face in her hands calmingly. "You need to let me go, Sirius." she said slowly.

Sirius's eyes were filled with sadness. As much as he would love to scream at her mother and steal Adelaide away, he knew that it would only make things worse for his sweet girlfriend in the end. He was out of options. So, he decided he would let her go, but only after placing one last kiss to her lips.

A moment after their lips met, Adelaide yelped in pain as a hand jerked her away by force, apperating her home in an instant.

"You insolent child!" her mother seethed, letting her go, only to stalk her like a bird of prey eyeing it's kill. A hand around her waist was one thing, but a blatant display of affection with that _blood-traitor_ in full view of other Pureblood families— _that_ was crossing a line. "You were just trying to embarrass me, weren't you!?" she spat venomously.

Adelaide was shaking in fear and shock, backing away, trying not to trip over her own feet. "N-no! I—I wasn't trying to—"

"Did you really think that you could run around with that— _that blood traitor_ and get away with it?!" Her mother screamed furiously seeing red.

Adelaide flinched as she saw her hand moved toward her wand. "N-no—I thought—I didn't —I—" She stammered, still backing away, praying that her father was somewhere close by.

"How dare you— how dare you fraternize with that—that monster loving miscreant!"

It was one thing for her mother to hate Sirius or even herself, but it was an entirely different matter for her to bring werewolves into it.

"Werewolves _aren't_ monsters!" Adelaide said in a sudden rush of boldness.

Surprise flashed in her mother's face, then unadulterated anger. "They are evil, bloodthirsty, mindless, soulless, monstrous beasts—!" her mother screamed, face turning red in her anger still stalking toward her.

"—NO THEY AREN'T! THEY HAVE A DISEASE! " Adelaide screeched, holding her ground.

"—THEY ARE NOTHING BUT VILE, FILTHY VERMIN THAT DESERVE TO BE SLAUGHTERED AND RID FROM THE EARTH—!"

"—JUST BECAUSE ONE KILLED ALEXANDER DOESN'T MEAN THEY'RE ALL BAD, YOU HEARTLESS BITCH!" Adelaide yelled furiously, breath heavy and absolutely seething. She couldn't remember a time in her whole life she'd been this angry. Every horrible thing her mother had ever said and done to her, every repressed emotion was boiling over as she stared the woman down with a matching set of hawk-like eyes.

Her mother's face went white as a sheet and she looked at her with an unreadable expression. Slowly, forbiddingly, Cathryn Fawley raised her wand toward the girl.

And this was the moment Adelaide realized she'd just made a terrible, _terrible_ mistake.


	82. Chapter 82

**Chapter 82- Crazy Cathryn**

Trembling in fury, breath heavy, Adelaide's eyes were fixed on her mother's raised wand and eerily calm demeanor, as if to challenge her—dare her to use the curse she must be dying to use.

This was it, Adelaide thought to herself, this was the moment Sirius had been fearing. The moment Crazy Cathryn finally snapped. She should feel scared, right? She should feel regret given the probability of her mother using that torturous curse on her.

However, despite the ominous predicament the petite fourteen year old found herself in, Adelaide didn't regret a single word of what she said; not about werewolves, not about her mother being a heartless bitch, and definitely not about Alexander.

For months she tried to forget what she knew about her brother's existence, but it only made the burning curiosity swell within her. Thoughts of him lurked in the back of her mind no matter how hard she tried to force them out. Questions bounced around within her skull day and night. What was he like? How did it happen? Was she alive when it happened? How old was he? And the most important question of all: Why had her parents kept the truth from her for fourteen years?

A beat passed and Cathryn still stood staring at the girl with that strange unreadable expression, eyes distant, manic, but also a little sad... glassy with unshed tears. Adelaide didn't know what to make of it. For a moment, she thought perhaps her mother would stand down and let her go.

But she was wrong.

 _"CRUCIO!"_ Her mother's ice cold voice blared through the silent Manor, echoing off of the marble walls and floors, ringing painfully in the girl's ears.

In the same moment Adelaide's hands shot up, as she shouted, _"PROTEGO!"_

The spell hit hard against the shield charm she cast, but her mother's wand did not lower. A steady stream of magic in the form of the unforgivable curse pushed against her shield, weakening it until finally, Adelaide couldn't hold it any longer.

The moment the shield charm failed, Adelaide hit the ground— _hard_.

A loud primal cry rang out as every single minuscule nerve in her body was set ablaze. Body flailing and twisting as thousands upon thousands of razor sharp knives stabbed her on the inside and out. This was the pain that haunted her dreams for years, and yet no amount of nightmares and flashbacks could prepare her for the intensity and utter horror that was consuming her.

She writhed on the floor shrieking, "Stop! Please stop!" for what felt like ages. Then the pain stopped, just as quickly as it came, leaving the small girl panting and crumpled on the cold marble floor.

"YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO REMEMBER HIM!" her mother screamed furiously. "HOW? WHO HELPED YOU?!"

"I-I don't...remember... an-anything..." Adelaide said breathlessly, hardly able to gather the strength to speak.

"LIAR! TELL ME!" her mother spat.

"I'm not lying!" Adelaide yelled as loud as she could. The weight of her mother's words set in. They had obliviated him out of her memory.

A second wave of indignant anger pulsed through her giving her a burst of strength. She looked around the room, catching sight of the fireplace. With every ounce of strength she could muster, Adelaide pulled herself off the floor, hobbling towards the fireplace, the bag of Floo Powder from Mrs. Potter still in her pocket... but she didn't make it very far before—

" _CRUCIO_!"

Again, Adelaide held up a hands to cast the shield charm, but this one was even weaker than the first.

After three seconds, excruciating pain beyond imagination set the girl squirming on the floor once again. The only thing Adelaide could think of was how to make it end. She would have given anything to stop the burning of her bones... even death. "P-please stop! I'm s-sorry!" she sobbed. "I'm s-sorry, mother!"

Then it ended.

"TELL THE TRUTH! WAS IT RIDDLE?"

"No... I tol-told you... I d-don't remember an-anything!" Adelaide sobbed desperately, every shred of dignity stolen. Her mother raised her wand again. Adelaide cried harder. " _Please_ n—!"

" _CRUCIO_!"

This time, Adelaide didn't even try to hold her off. The only sound heard within those cold marble walls were Adelaide's desperate cries and pleads for her mother to have mercy— or at least they were, until a booming voice pierced through, savagely bellowing, "CATHY STOP!"

The pain ended.

Adelaide sobbed softly on the floor curled into a ball, eyes squeezed shut, trying to convince herself this was all a nightmare—that any second she would wake up and see Sirius's bright grey eyes and reassuring smile, hear his voice as he held her and told her that everything was going to be okay... then Remus would burst in with a big cup of chamomile tea, Peter with the last of his chocolate stash, and James with a brilliant prank to cheer her up—

"Cathy what the bloody hell are you doing?!" the booming low voice asked.

"SHE KNOWS! SOMEONE TOLD HER! SOMEONE HELPED HER REMEMBER—REMEMBER _HIM_." Cathryn screeched, her cold voice quavering on her last word.

"I-I don't rem-remember anything..." Adelaide said so softly, she thought no one would even be able to hear.

But they did.

"She's lying, Filip! She has to be lying! She used his name, she knows what happened—" Cathryn began.

"AND YOU THOUGHT THAT WAS A GOOD ENOUGH REASON TO TORTURE YOUR OWN DAUGHTER?!" boomed the man Adelaide now realized was her father... the man she had never witnessed lose his temper or raise his voice.

Adelaide, curious as to what her mother's answer would be, pried her eyes open from where she lay curled upon the floor.

Cathryn looked scared. That was the only way Adelaide could describe it. She looked completely terrified. Her wand clattered to the floor and her shaking hands rose over her mouth in horror.

Those hazel eyes that looked at her daughter with such deadly contempt just minutes before, now looked at her in shock. If Adelaide didn't know any better, she'd say her mother looked... _remorseful..._ as if she couldn't believe what she had done.

"Cathy, you can't keep doing this... losing control... I can't cover for you forever. They're already becoming suspicious in the—" Filip started in a more gentle tone.

"I know. " Cathryn said quietly, cutting him off.

"She's never going to trust you after this..."

Her eyes flickered over to the girl on the floor. "She shouldn't."

Filip watched his wife quietly ascend up the grand ornate staircase with an unreadable expression etched upon his face, as if his mind was somewhere else entirely.

"D-dad?" Adelaide said in just above a whisper, letting out a sob.

The man was pulled out of whatever trance he was in and ran toward Adelaide's crumpled figure. She felt her father pick her up off of the floor, pulling her into his warm arms.

"Shh... it's okay now..." he hushed.

Adelaide sobbed inconsolably into the man's chest, confused, disoriented, and overwhelmingly exhausted... until finally she fainted.

* * *

Walburga Black returned home from the train station with her two sons, one of which was even more disagreeable than usual after she drug him away from that Potter child. As much as she despised that blood traitor friend of his, the promise of having her wretched son out of her hair over the holidays was too much to pass up.

"Dinner is at six, head upstairs until then." she demanded coldly to the two boys. Regulus wasn't intolerable, actually he was quite pleasant to be around, but she did not have the patience to deal with the sulky older boy until after she'd had something to drink… something strong.

Regulus, who was greeting the old house elf, quietly obeyed... meanwhile, Sirius stormed up the stairs, shaking the walls with his stomps—slamming the door behind him.

Walburga was just about to forego her drink and run up to reprimand him for disrespecting their family home, when her husband's voice sounded from the nearby sitting room.

Orion lowered his news paper, frowning deeply from where he sat in the high-backed dark chair. "Where's Adelaide?" he asked, looking around slightly for any sign of the girl.

Walburga looked back up at the staircase, clearly irritated that her plans to discipline her problem child were spoiled, then looked back at her husband, sighing deeply. The woman sat down in the seat beside him, perfect posture, glaring at him just slightly. "Cathryn said there was a change in plans—"

"Cathryn said?" Orion repeated, placing the news paper aside.

"Yes? Are you deaf?" Walburga said impatiently.

"And you listened to her?" Orion asked incredulously. "Cathy's the whole reason we were taking her in the first place."

Walburga rolled her eyes, waving him off dismissively. "I don't believe all that malarkey—She seemed perfectly sane to me—"

"So you think Filip was lying— _exaggerating_? When have you ever known Filip to exaggerate about anything—?"

"—I've known Cathy for years! I refuse to believe she would ever do that to her child—!"

"She isn't in her right mind, Walburga—!"

"She would never _kill_ her!" Walburga said loudly, nostrils flaring.

Orion clenched his jaw. "It wouldn't be the first time she killed..."

"That was different and you know it." Walburga snapped in an irritated tone.

"I don't care what the circumstances were, there are some lines you don't cross—and against a pureblood, it seems a terrible waste." Orion lamented.

"That was never Cathy's intentions! Besides, it's not like it was any great loss... that McKinnon woman was a blood-traitor!" Walburga defended shrilly.

"It may not have been her intentions, but it sure as hell was _his_."

Walburga groaned, this again, she thought. "It always goes back to Riddle, doesn't it?" she laughed humorlessly. "You're so paranoid... He represents everything we stand for, Orion; purifying the bloodlines, putting muggles in their place—"

"But he has no limits! What's to stop him from going after his own? You saw what he did to the Fawley's when Cathryn wanted out... We have to look out for ourselves." Orion stated getting a little worked up. He glanced over to his clearly annoyed wife and let out a deep breath. "Look, I hate that filth just as much as you, but killing Purebloods?"

Walburga's next words were drowned by the loud chiming doorbell.

* * *

"Master Regulus! Kreature made your favorite pie for dessert!" the old house elf told the boy the moment he returned home from the train station, obviously thrilled to have him back.

"Brilliant! You're the best Kreature!" Regulus smiled. "oh! I found this new recipe for a red velvet cake that I think you'll—"

"Dinner is at six, head upstairs until then." Regulus's mother demanded coldly.

"Erm, we'll talk later," Regulus muttered to the house elf, walking up the stairs without a second thought.

Sirius came storming up passing him on his way and Regulus sighed deeply. Yet again, his brother was in a mood. This was what always happened when he had to be away from Addy for any great length of time.

The door to his big brother's room slammed shut forcefully, causing Regulus to flinch involuntarily. He could hear him cursing loudly within the room, kicking furniture, or the wall, more likely, knowing him.

Regulus knew he should probably go in and check on him, calm him down before their mother got there and all hell broke loose... But he was really a prat sometimes, and calming him down wasn't a task he particularly enjoyed doing. Regulus always admired Adelaide's patience when it came to his big brother; he was most certainly not an easy person to be around when his mood went sour, yet she never seemed fazed by it.

Hesitantly, Regulus knocked on the door, more out of politeness than anything else, before he walked in.

"I knew you'd be kicking the wall..." Regulus smirked. Sirius hardly registered that Regulus had invited himself in, continuing to mercilessly take out his anger on the disgusting wallpaper. "What's eating you? You seem more pissy than usual..."

Sirius muttered incoherently, something about Adelaide's mother, 'just a kiss,' and 'cowardly failure,' before sitting on the edge of his bed, hunched over running his hands through his hair. He looked like he was going to cry— this was most certainly not normal Sirius Sulking.

"Sirius?" Regulus said, sitting down beside him. "What's wrong?"

"Addy." Sirius said pathetically. "That woman's going to hurt her Reg, I just know it and I can't do a damn thing about it!" he said furiously.

Regulus knew all about how her mother used that unforgivable curse on her years ago... and even though Sirius was a complete drama queen, he knew his brother well enough to know when something was really wrong.

"What about her dad?"

"He wasn't there Reg! She just yanked her right out of my arms and took her straight home without him!"

"Maybe mum and dad could—" Regulus started.

"Oh like that's any better!" Sirius spat.

"They like Addy." Regulus stated matter of factly.

As much as he was trying to cheer Sirius up, it was absolutely true. Besides the whole Christmas thing a few years back, Adelaide was always well mannered and polite. She never talked back (that they knew of) and most importantly, she was a well known favorite of Riddle's.

"The only one I semi-trust to take care of her is her dad, but I have no bloody idea how to get to him, and an owl would be way too slow—"

"What if Kreature found him? He could find Mimsy, see where her dad is—I'm sure she would know where he wandered off to... at the very least she could check on Addy."

Sirius looked up and Regulus could see a glimmer of hope masked by his outward distaste for their old house elf. "You do it. Kreature hates me..."

"Not without reason..." Regulus muttered. Sirius shot him a dirty look. "Oh don't look at me like that! Have you met you?"

"Just tell him to find Mimsy!" Sirius said impatiently.

Regulus rolled his eyes and summoned the pig nosed elf, asking him to track down the Fawley's elf for the whereabouts of her Master, telling him that it was very important and that Adelaide might be in danger.

The elf apparated away… and several minutes later the doorbell rang.

Regulus and Sirius shared a concerned look of confusion. Who would be ringing? Surely their dinner guests, whoever they were, wouldn't be there this early.

Wordlessly, the two filed out of the room in silence, padding their way down the stairs to get a look at their guest. Sirius caught a flash of pale-blonde hair and panicked. Throwing caution to the wind, Sirius tore down the stairs in time to see Mr. Fawley turn on his heel to glare at his own parents.

A sick twist of satisfaction ran through Sirius, despite his overwhelming panic. It was about time someone else glared at his parents.

At first he couldn't quite make out what he was saying, only bits and pieces...

"Meeting with the minister... house elf... Saint Mungo's..."

Frustrated and overcome by curiosity, Sirius crept down a few more steps, ignoring Regulus's hushed urgings for him to stay put.

"She was supposed to be here!" Filip said... _loudly_? Sirius had spent an entire summer at the Fawley home, but had _never_ heard him raise his voice. "She was supposed to be with you! I told you, I warned you something like this would happen to her!"

"I didn't— I never thought she would— I didn't think..." Walburga stammered, clearly just as shocked as Sirius by the man's outburst.

"No, you didn't think, that's apparent." Filip said venomously.

"She's welcome to stay as long as—" Orion started.

"There's no need. I've canceled the trip with the Minister and her mother is making other accommodations."

Walburga looked a little annoyed by this. "Then why come barging into our home?!"

"I wanted you to know what your idiocy has led to." Filip said calmly, moving to pick up a girl off of the couch... _Adelaide_.

Without thinking Sirius sprinted down the stairs, despite Regulus trying his hardest to hold him back. "WAIT! NO! YOU CAN'T GO! ADDYKINS! STOP!"

But it was too late, Filip walked outside and apparated away with the lifeless girl without a second glance.

Sirius was only vaguely aware of his own mother's shrill screams as she let her anger out on him, though he was certain she mentioned something about locking him away the rest of break. The only thing on Sirius's mind as his mother and father shot hex after hex at him, leaving him bloody and bruised on the floor, was Adelaide.

* * *

The light screech of a bossy barn owl pulled Adelaide out of a deep and dreamless sleep. She rolled over in her bed, feeling more exhausted than the time she ran twenty-five laps around the Quidditch pitch for pranking Woody on April fools day.

Groaning, her small hand reached out to the nightstand, fingers blindly fumbling against the smooth wood surface for her elm wand with its delicate mother of pearl inlays. But as she reached, the only thing she could feel was the harsh metal edges of a picture frame containing a photo of her and Mary at her 13th birthday party.

Her eyes flew open and she sat up in her fluffy lavender bed, looking around the bedroom in confusion. Moonlight peaked behind the soft pink drapes, and her trunk lay tucked across the room under the squashy white chair Sirius used to hide muggle whoopee cushions in.

Her eyes scanned over the bedside table then peeked over the side of the bed to see if her wand had rolled off... but it was no where to be found. Next she patted her pockets to see if the small drawstring bag of floo powder still on her, but soon realized she was dressed in her lavender nightgown, meaning the powder was gone as well.

Her head snapped toward the large window as the white and orange barn owl let out another screech from where he perched in his cage.

She let out a loud breath, trying to remember what happened... how she got there... with a gasp she remembered her mother's terrifying face shouting those cursed words at her.

 _"I have to get out of here..."_ she whispered to herself.

With shaky limbs, she pulled her legs over the side of the bed, willing herself to stand.

She stood rather unsurely on her wobbly legs, but gritted her teeth to move. Just as she took her first step, Berwin let out an especially loud screech. The sound startled her, ruining her focus and sending her tumbling down onto the hardwood floor. A loud whimper of pain left her lips as she felt her ankle land in an unnatural way.

Again, Berwin screeched loudly.

"Would you shut up you bloody bird! You're giving me a headache!" she said venomously.

The bird screeched even louder, ruffling his feathers a bit in annoyance.

Adelaide was beyond frustrated. She didn't have her wand, she'd lost her emergency Floo powder, she couldn't even walk to her trunk to find the mirror or to her desk to write to Mrs. Potter... and now she was stuck on the ground with what was sure to be a sprained ankle in a room with an annoyingly loud bird that didn't know when to shut up.

Just as she tried to get up and hobble toward the desk once more, the door flew open. Adelaide flinched, melting back onto the ground and crawling backward into the shadows out of reflex. A tall man with slightly disheveled light blonde hair quickly walked into the room, padding his way past her ivory vanity and wardrobe toward where she sat on the dark wood floor beside her bed, flicking his wand to light the lamp at her bedside. "Stay away from me." she said as intimidatingly as possible.

The man stopped, frowning. "Sweetie... I'm here to help you."

"Yes, well... it seems as usual you were a bit too late for that." Adelaide snapped. All respect for her parents had been lost. It may have been her mother who tortured her, but her father should have been there; he should have known, he should have protected her.

"I'm here now." he said, seemingly unfazed by her venom. Slowly, he moved closer to the girl, crouching on the floor beside her. "You fell out of bed." he stated calmly.

"I was trying to run away." she muttered harshly, trying to wound him with her words the way he hurt her with his negligence.

Hurt flashed in his cool blue eyes, visible even in the dimly lit room. His gaze moved down to where she clutched her ankle. Adelaide gasped watching him pull out his wand and point it toward her. "DON'T!" she begged, backing further away in fear, nearly hyperventilating.

Filip looked up at her clearly terrified face, then back down to his wand, and carefully placed it upon the floor. "I need to mend your ankle." he said softly.

"I could mend it myself if you didn't take my wand..."

Filip frowned deeper. He knew the psychological affects of prolonged exposure to the Cruciatus Curse. He couldn't risk letting her have her wand if her mental state ended up being compromised when she awoke. "Let me at least help you back into bed—"

"I can do it myself." she said stiffly, knowing full well that she couldn't as she tried to pull herself up.

Filip stood up and watched, not wanting to pressure her, but as her legs began to give way again, he swooped in and caught her, placing her on the bed in one swift motion.

"You need to rest." he said softly, eyes clouded with concern.

"Why? Why rest when that woman is just going to torture me again for no reason!" Adelaide said, green eyes full of so many emotions. She was so angry with her mother, furious. But she was also incredibly hurt, and not in the physical sense. She was hurt that her mother would do that to her... how could a mother do that to their child? Sure she had yelled at her mother, but for her to use an unforgivable...

Filip slowly sat at the edge of the bed, and took a deep breath. "Your mother isn't here. She's gone to stay with your aunt until after the holidays."

"She should be going to Azkaban." Adelaide spat.

Filip hesitated. She was right, but how was he supposed to tell her that sending her mother to prison would only make matters worse? That it would put her safety in even more jeopardy? He couldn't, at least, not yet. So he chose a different route. "Adelaide, your mother... your mother wasn't in her right mind—"

"Being mental doesn't make it okay to do what she did!"

"No, it doesn't..." he said calmly. "But it may help you to understand why... why she is the way she is..."

"You mean why she's a heartless bitch." Adelaide deadpanned.

"She's not as heartless as you think she is." Filip said, unfazed by his daughter's crude words. Adelaide had to bite her tongue not to quip back at his ridiculous statement. She could tell just by his face and demeanor that he was getting ready to explain something important…

Filip took a deep breath and readjusted slightly to face Adelaide more completely. "You know about Alexander, yes?"

Adelaide's heart raced. "Y-yes... kind of."

Filip nodded thoughtfully. "What all do you know?"

Adelaide hesitated, wondering if this was a trick, but took a deep steadying breath before answering. "I know he was my brother and that he was killed by a werewolf... but that's it, I swear!" she said, panicked that he might retaliate the way her mother had. "I don't remember anything! I just overheard you two talking once over the summer and put the pieces together—!"

"Adelaide. Relax. You're not in trouble." Filip said with a reassuring smile... Adelaide noticed how much less frightening he looked when he smiled. "We should have told you ages ago..."

"But—but mother was so... _angry_..." she said in a small voice.

Filip took another deep breath. "When your brother—when _Alexander_ died, something went wrong in your mother—it's like something broke—she can't even stand to hear his name. She's heartbroken, Adelaide. I know it's hard to understand, but she's spent years trying to not love you—to not get too close— because the pain of loving you and losing you as well would break her even more. But she _does_ love you—"

"Then why did she do that to me!" Adelaide asked, trying to hold back a sob. "If she loves me so bloody much, why would she hurt me like th-that!"

"I don't know... like I said, she's not in her right mind when she gets angry like that—"

"Then why did you leave me alone with her!? If you knew she was mental, why weren't you around to s-stop her!?" Hot tears of frustration tumbled down Adelaide's cheeks.

Guilt seemed to strangle the man, rendering him speechless for a moment before he finally explained. "I was supposed to go out of the country with the minister of magic for a few days. You were supposed to go home with the Blacks until I returned. I wrote Sirius so that you would know... but your mother must have intercepted the letter." he said, eyes full of sorrow as he reached to wipe away her tears. "Your mother told his mother that there was a change of plans, and Mrs. Black believed her."

"W-why would— why didn't she just let me go with them?"

"She didn't want you around Sirius." Filip said simply.

Adelaide stared at him blankly. Of course that's why she would do it.

"You should rest." he said moving to stand up from the bed.

"Wait!" Adelaide said suddenly, reaching out a hand and grasping the dark sleeve of his robes to keep him from leaving. "She—she said I wasn't supposed to remember… You—you took Alexander out of my memory, didn't you?"

Filip tensed, and paused for several seconds before answering. "Yes."

"Why?" Adelaide asked looking up at him with big searching forest green eyes full of innocence.

Filip knew she deserved to know the truth, but he wasn't sure if he was ready to tell her—ready to put that burden on her.

"That's a conversation for another time." he said quietly, placing a hand on hers, giving it a little squeeze before leaving the room, shutting the door behind him.

Adelaide's stayed awake for a long while, thoughts buzzing with unanswered questions regarding her brother's death, but even more about what he was like when he was alive. If they erased him from her memory, that must mean she knew him. That she knew what happened… These thoughts and others continued to swirl in her mind until finally, sleep took over.

 _"Laidy! Come on Laidy! I need to show you something!"_

 _"Slow down! I can't run that fast, Alexander! Wait up!" Adelaide called desperately out of breath, trying to keep up with the blonde boy running ahead of her. Her little pigtail braids were flopping around wildly against her ruffled white play dress, and her face was hot and sweaty from trying to keep up with the older boy. "Alex! Wait for m—!" her last word was cut off as she tripped over an exposed tree root skinning her knee. "Alexander, h-help m-me!" she cried, now sobbing and clutching her bleeding little leg._

 _Suddenly, the blonde boy looked back and sprinted back toward her at top speed._

 _"It h-h-hurts A-Alex..." Adelaide sniffled as the boy sat down on the dirt beside her._

 _The boy soothingly hushed her cries, rubbing her back. "Shhh... It's okay Laidy, I can fix it." he said, moving his little hand over her bloody knee and instantly stitching her wound back together as she watched in awe. "See? All better." he said, smiling at her, plucking a purple flower and placing it in her hair._

 _Adelaide giggled and clapped her hands at the magic, tears of sadness still falling down her cheeks, yet long forgotten. "Can you do the lights now?! Come on, do the lights!" she cheered._

 _Alexander laughed at her enthusiasm."I will, but first I have to show you something!" he said sweetly, helping the little girl to her feet then running with her hand in hand along the tree covered pathway._

 _"Alex, where are we going?" she whined, growing impatient after a while._

 _Alexander stopped their running, stooping down to her level, big blue eyes alight with adventure and excitement, face flushed from exercise and adorned with a big smile. He looked around surreptitiously, then leaned closer and whispered, "Your secret garden."_

The loud screeching of her blasted owl awoke Adelaide with more efficiency than Sirius shaking her awake. It took a moment for her to get her bearings, but then realization hit. What she had just seen wasn't a dream at all.

It was a memory.

A memory that she shouldn't have.


	83. Chapter 83

**Chapter 83- So... Truce?**

With the soft light of morning glowing behind the pink drapes of her bedroom, Berwin's screech still ringing in her ears, and visions of a blonde little boy running on a loop in her mind's eye, Adelaide sat up in her bed.

"This _can't_ be possible," she muttered to herself, head bent over and running her hands through her hair in a very Sirius-like way. "No, no, no, no, NO! I can't deal with this right now!" she growled, punching a pillow. A frenzy of emotions ran through her— sadness, grief, and happiness from seeing the brother she had long forgotten; anger and frustration that the truth had been kept from her for so long, and that her father still refused to explain what all had happened; but most of all _fear_.

Fear that what she saw wasn't real at all. But mostly fear that it _was_ real. She had read all about memory charms and she _knew_ that there were only a handful of ways to recover lost memories, most of which left the previously obliviated person with long-term mental damage. If she really did remember, that would mean she could end up just as crazy as her mother, and that was a reality she did _not_ want to face.

"There was no way that what I saw was actually a memory." she said to herself half-convincingly, smoothing out her nightgown. "It was just my imagination projecting what I wanted to see. An illusion."

This was the lie she told herself.

It was easy enough to ignore the truth, surprisingly easy in fact. She simply shoved those pesky feelings down deep in an imaginary drawer, locked the key, and focused instead on the things she could control—such as getting out of that house.

Another loud screech from Berwin caused Adelaide to jump where she sat against her fluffy pillows, effectively pulling her out of her thoughts. As she rose from the bed, making her way toward her trunk on much surer footing than the night before, she wondered briefly if he was coming down with something— that bird seemed to be in quite a mood lately.

She dragged the trunk out from under the squashy white armchair and began to dig through the wide array of clothes and books until she found the item she was looking for. The mirror.

Her hand outstretched toward the silver compact mirror immediately, but paused just before making contact. Part of her hoped that the mirror would be warm when she touched it— that Sirius had found it since he returned home and that he would be trying to reach out to her. But as she finally grasped the ornately decorated metal and opened it, it was cool as could be, with nothing but her own haggard appearance staring back at her.

" _Sirius Orion Black the Third_ ," she hissed into the mirror.

Nothing. She waited for a good five minutes, but nothing but her own sad reflection filled the glass.

Adelaide's heart sank, but she didn't have time to feel sorry for herself. She needed to send word to someone, _anyone_ , to get her out of that house. So, she pulled herself off the floor and walked with determination toward her messy desk, lifting her quill to write as neatly as she could to Mrs. Potter, begging her to send help. Once she was quite satisfied with her letter, Adelaide made her way to the barn owl near the window, opening the curtains and tying the note to his foot.

"Okay, Berwie, I need you to take this to James's mum. You know the way." she said as she opened the window to let him fly.

Only, Berwin didn't move.

"Come on baby, I know you're grumpy and all, but I _really_ need you to send this." Adelaide said to the stubborn owl, petting his feathers gently, trying to coax him into moving.

Berwin still didn't move, but he did screech quite loudly.

"Ugh! Berwin!" Adelaide scolded. It was at this point that she started to forcibly remove the owl from his perch in the cage. "Move. You. Stupid. Pidgin." she grunted. Berwin finally humored the girl by flying out of the cage… only to perch on the edge of the balcony. " _Really_? Ugh! What's with you?!"

"He won't leave."

Adelaide whipped around so quickly that she nearly lost her balance, catching herself on the balcony railing. A somewhat tall man with perfectly combed pale-blonde hair faced her from within the room, walking slowly towards the balcony, deep set blue eyes fixed softly on the temperamental bird.

Adelaide frowned. "What do you mean he won't leave?"

"I told him not to." her father said calmly petting the bird. "You should come inside, it's cold out—"

"—why would you tell him not to leave?!" Adelaide asked incredulously. She hoped that the answer wouldn't be what she thought it was.

"Because I knew you would try to send messages to your friends about what happened yesterday, and I can't allow that, Adelaide. It's not safe for you. Now come inside and get back to bed—"

"No! I'm not tired!" Adelaide seethed. How _dare_ he turn her own owl against her. How dare _he_ lecture _her_ on what was and wasn't safe.

"Well... If you're feeling up for it, you can come downstairs for breakfast. Mimsy made pancakes—"

"Sirius is the one who likes pancakes—" she snapped. "I always have oatmeal."

"Well then _I_ will eat the pancakes and we can have Mimsy fix up some oatmeal for you." he said, completely unfazed by her anger. "Regardless, you need to get out of the cold."

It _was_ quite cold, and she _was_ quite hungry… and it was obvious that whether or not he really told Berwin not to leave, that bird was not going anywhere anytime soon, so begrudgingly she returned to her room.

Once dressed and ready, Adelaide made her way downstairs for breakfast at the wooden table. There her father sat, reading the paper, sipping his tea, a big stack of pancakes on the plate in-front of him. Adelaide found it odd. The normalcy of it all. As if her mother torturing her half to insanity the day before had been just a dream…

Slowly, Adelaide sat at the table then practically inhaled the oatmeal Mimsy prepared… She supposed torture burned a lot of calories.

Filip, folded the paper neatly on the table. "I will be leaving for a while this afternoon," he began calmly. "I have some matters to handle in the office, but it shouldn't take too long—"

"Are you _really_ leaving me here? After what happened yesterday?" she asked, spoon clattering on the table in disbelief.

"Yes. I've placed several security charms around the house. No one besides me is able to enter or exit the grounds—" he said in what Adelaide guessed was supposed to be a comforting voice.

"What about animals?" she asked, genuinely curious. Their home was incredibly far away from the Potters, but if worse came to worse, she figured she could always make an escape on foot— well, _paw_.

Filip Fawley's head tilted to the side just slightly, eyes searching. "What do you mean?"

Adelaide could feel her heartbeat quicken, a physical manifestation of her internal panic that he might somehow figure out her secret. But, being the highly skilled Occlumens that she was, Adelaide forced these feelings away, face hardening into the mask of emotionlessness she wore so often when in that house.

"I just wondered if your security charms kept the bunnies from leaving… what if they went off for a hop around the garden and found they couldn't make it home in time for supper because of some silly spell?" she said. It helped that this wasn't a complete lie. The bunnies' fate was actually a genuine concern of hers.

Filip's lips curved into a genuine smile. "I'll be back long before supper. The bunnies will have plenty of time to make it home." he said kindly.

So, the answer was yes. The spells _did_ keep animals from leaving. "Oh. Well, good…"

* * *

After breakfast, Adelaide holed herself up in the library, looking for any information she could find on memory charms—more specifically, how to break them without going insane.

Around noon, as she began to doze off on one of the large dusty couches, the door to the library opened and the smell of pea soup flooded the room causing the girl to stir from her almost slumber. When she sat up to look toward the door, she expected to see the small squeaky house elf, but instead Adelaide saw her father, walking carefully toward her, placing the silver platter of her lunch on a nearby table.

"I brought your lunch…"

"I can see that." Adelaide said flatly.

"I'm heading out now… if there's anything you need—"

"I'd like to have Sirius over." she said a bit spitefully, cutting him off. In all honesty, she felt a little bad for being so rude to him, but after everything that happened, she found it hard to be nice to him.

Filip pursed his lips and nodded, looking away from her. "I imagine he would like that too… but I'm afraid I don't have as much negotiating power with his parents as I once did."

Adelaide furrowed her brows in confusion, she could tell there was something he wasn't telling her. "What?"

Filip took a deep breath and gave her a sad smile as he leaned against the back of a nearby chair, internally debating if he should explain. But, he figured she would find out what happened anyway once she made it back to school. "After I stopped your mother, I took you to the Black's home while she set her affairs in order to visit her sister—"

"You took me to Sirius's house—?!"

"Yes. You had fainted at this point, and I was very angry with his mother for putting you in that situation. I— Well let's just say I didn't complement her intelligence."

"You told off Walburga!?" Adelaide asked incredulously, a small sense of vindictive pride bubbling up within her.

Filip chuckled softly. "I suppose you could put it like that, yes… anyway, I don't think they will want to see me asking for favors anytime soon."

"I suppose not…" Adelaide said softly. "Did you see Sirius when you were there?"

Filip shuffled uncomfortably, face hard and unchangeable as granite. "No… but I believe he saw me."

Adelaide was confused on what that meant. "What?"

"I— he saw me leave with you, but it was too late for me to go back—"

"Wait… he saw me… unconscious… and you just _left?!"_ Adelaide said in a mixture of disbelief and horror. " _Dad_! He's probably freaking out! You have to tell him I'm okay! He probably thinks I'm dead or something!" she exclaimed worriedly.

"Adelaide, I can't—"

"NO! YOU HAVE TO!" she said loudly, tears threatening to spill over. "He'll get himself hurt! Please!" she begged.

"Adelaide, I have to leave, but I will do my best to get a message to him, alright?"

Adelaide nodded curtly, brows knitted together and biting the inside of her cheek. She knew he was lying, but she appreciated the thought.

"I'll see you at supper." he said as he left the room.

After her father left for the office, Adelaide scarfed down her soup, running over her next plan for the day in her mind.

She wasn't sure of the last time she was left alone in the house to her own devices, but knew this was an opportunity she would not take lightly. Filip and Cathryn Fawley had many secrets, and if she was destined to remain in that home the rest of break, she was determined to unravel them all.

* * *

Slowly, and with as much sneakiness as she possessed, Adelaide tiptoed into her father's study. The wood paneled room was dark with emerald green drapes hanging in front of a window facing the front of the home, the walls packed with books of all types, with a large dark fireplace on the left side. A dark wood desk stood in the middle of the room, messy with scattered papers, books, and newspaper clippings

Adelaide took one last fleeting look at the door, then began to carefully inspect the contents of the desk. Most of the papers were fairly boring. There were a few newspaper clippings about recent disappearances within the Ministry (one of which was the one about Marlene's father) and some random attacks by death eaters. Her father was investigating these matters, so she didn't really think much of them.

Under some other papers including a list of upcoming Quidditch matches, an owl order for Flourish and Blotts, and a long list of names and dates in tiny print, was a rather large blueprint of what Adelaide recognized (mostly by the peacock pen) as Malfoy manner. Why would her father have a map of Malfoy manner?

Once she had thoroughly snooped through the desk, she moved on to the drawers. She really hoped that she would find her wand in one of them, she was getting very frustrated not having it around. First she searched the drawers on the right side of the desk. It was mostly old files with important documents about their home, finances, and assets— _boring_ — but she did find a whole file full of information about her possible suitors. She snorted a laugh when she saw a big red 'X' over Finn Rowel's smug face.

Next, she went over to the left side of the desk. The first drawer contained nothing but some ink bottles, quills, and spare parchment, but the second, was a bit more interesting.

The drawer contained several curiously titled books concerning wandless magic.

This caught Adelaide a little off guard. She went in to the study in hopes of finding something to do with her family history, or at least her wand— not her father reading up on her rare talent.

Nevertheless, Adelaide continued to snoop for a long while, inspecting every single nook and cranny that she could, checking her watch every so often to make sure she still had time before he returned. But, apart from some rather interesting books on the goblin wars that she made a mental note to nick before she went back to school, there was nothing else worth noting in the study.

Since she now had a little time left on her hands, Adelaide next traveled to the one room in the house she was absolutely _not_ permitted to enter: Her mother's parlor.

Just walking into the flowery room made her sick, but Adelaide never understood why it was so off limits. It was where her mother often retired in the evenings, or when she had her horrid friends over so that they could drink and gossip— it's not like she was doing anything too nefarious in there, right? But, just the fact that it was off limits was enough to provoke Adelaide's suspicions.

The parlor was somewhat cozy, pink and white walls with a large white marble fireplace beside a few elegant pink armchairs, surrounding a flower topped coffee table. On the far left side was a large painting of a flower vase above a contraption that Adelaide discovered held wine and other types of alcohol, as well as cups and glasses. Interesting, but nothing worth really snooping around.

On the far right side of the room, however, Adelaide found several cabinets above the shelves of old books— mostly novels. Carefully, Adelaide perused the three cabinets.

The first contained a few more wine bottles and a few napkins, the second contained nothing but a strange statue of a horse, and the third held some biscuit tins and chocolates. Adelaide was mildly irritated that her mother was withholding sweets from her, but couldn't find anything else to fault her with… besides torturing her of course.

Whether it was intuition, or the sneaky snoopy Slytherin heritage within her, she was unsure, but _something_ drew her back to the second cabinet— to the strange horse statue.

Adelaide ran her small delicate hands over the intricate bronze figure, and wondered why her mother would hide something like that away, and all by itself? It seemed like a terrible use of space to hide just one thing in a big cabinet like that, and it wasn't _that_ hideous. Curious, Adelaide tried to pick up the statue, so that she could inspect it close up— but as her small hands attempted to drag the statue toward her, something strange happened.

All of a sudden the cabinet and bookshelves began to magically rearrange themselves, moving to the side and into an archway, much like the bricks behind the Leaky cauldron that led to Diagon Alley. Heart beating faster and harder in her chest, Adelaide scooted backwards and watched as a hidden room appeared behind where the wall of books and cabinets once stood.

Her forest green eyes darted toward the door of the parlor, and then to her watch— she didn't have a whole lot of time before her father returned, but she had to see what her mother was hiding.

The hidden alcove was dimly lit and a lot less girly than the parlor. Actually, it reminded Adelaide an awful lot of a dungeon with stone walls cut out to reveal a few built-in shelves. She was a little surprised to find that there was essentially nothing in the hidden room apart from a weird metal basin with strange symbols carved into the sides, some glowing glass vials, and an old hat box.

The hat box was black as onyx, with some black lace around the trim of the top for some gothic flare. Carefully, with shaking hands, Adelaide moved to lift the top off to see what was hidden within— that's when she heard her father.

Her breath became heavy, and her panic began to rise as she heard her father's voice calling her name around the house, obviously looking for her. Dropping the lid without looking inside and staggering away, Adelaide reached for the horse statue now visible on the side of the archway and began yanking and pulling on it desperately in an effort to shut the secret room closed. But, no matter how many ways she pushed and pulled the stupid statue, she couldn't get it closed.

"Close you stupid room! Close!" Adelaide muttered in desperation. "Close, close, close!"

And just like that, the walls magically reordered themselves back into place, leaving nothing but Adelaide's labored breaths to suggest that anything was out of the ordinary.

"Well that worked out well…" she said breathlessly, marveling at her luck before sprinting out of the room and into the kitchen where Mimsy was just finishing up dinner, plopping herself into a chair. The elf gave her a strange look, but otherwise preoccupied herself with finishing her task.

"Adelaide, there you are!" her father said in relief. "You look flushed, are you alright?"

Adelaide really wished he would stop asking her that.

"I'm fine! Just ran back in from the garden when I saw what time it was…" she lied. Her father didn't seem to suspect anything, but Mimsy once again gave her a strange look.

"Ah, well… I would hold off on the exercise for a few more days…" he said sitting down at the table.

"Did you have a pleasant time at the office?" Adelaide asked, desperate to change the subject.

Filip looked rather uncomfortable. "I— I did." he lied shortly as Mimsy magicked the food onto the table.

"Any news on Marlene's dad?" Adelaide said before taking a big bite of her salad.

Now Filip looked supremely uncomfortable, and also a little angry. " _What_?" he asked in a severe tone.

Adelaide was caught off guard, realizing just how unusually kind and patient her father had been since her return now that he used the scary stone cold persona she was used to. "I-I um— I was just wondering if you um— if there was any leads on where Marlene's dad was… She erm… well I saw the article in the paper, and she told me he was the one who went missing…" Adelaide said, feeling more and more insecure the longer her father stared at her.

"No. There are no leads." he said quickly, returning to his dinner in silence.

"Oh… Well do you know if they ever caught the lady who killed her aunt?" Adelaide asked. She knew she would have been better off keeping her mouth shut, especially now that he seemed to be a little on edge, but her curiosity was too strong.

Filip looked at her with a mixture of anger and fear. "How do you know it was a woman?"

"Well, you see Marlene said it was her aunt who died, not her uncle—"

"No, you asked if we caught the 'Lady' who killed her— how do you know it was a woman?" he clarified, blue eyes set on her carefully.

"Oh… um… Marlene said she remembered her voice… said it was a lady Death Eater." Adelaide mumbled, looking away from the intensity of his gaze.

"She never told the aurors that." he said harshly.

"Yeah… um… I think she was scared…" Adelaide said softly, her father scowled a little at her statement. "Erm… am I in trouble?"

Filip blinked a few times, face softening. "No, sweetie. You're not in trouble." he said in a more gentle tone, returning to his dinner. "But there is something I wanted to ask you." Adelaide gave him a curious look. "Did you ever continue your lessons with the headmaster—"

"The wandless magic ones?" she asked through a mouthful of her dinner roll.

"Don't speak with your mouth full, Adelaide Rose," he scolded. "and yes. The wandless magic ones."

"Erm… no?" she said, mouth clear of any food whatsoever, remembering the books she found in his office on the subject. "Was I supposed to?"

"No, I was just curious…" he said a little distractedly.

Some time passed, and they moved on the the dessert: Key Lime Pie. As Adelaide savored the tangy sweet treat, another somewhat risky thought cropped up. "Since mum is gone now… can I go to the Potters' for Christmas with my friends?" she asked, the words leaving her mouth too quickly for her to stop them.

Filip placed his fork down on the table and looked at her almost apologetically. "No. You can't."

Adelaide felt a poisonous current of frustration run through her. "Why not?" she asked, sounding much more like a spoiled child than she really intended.

"Because it is not safe." her father said with an air of finality, as if he thought that would be a sufficient answer for the teenager.

It was not a sufficient answer, not by a long shot.

"And you think being _here_ is safe?" Adelaide snapped, slamming her fork onto the table with a clatter. "I was _tortured_ with an _illegal_ spell in the home of a man who is the head of the bloody department of magical law enforcement—!"

"—Adelaide, mind your temper—" he said in a dangerously low voice.

"—NO! I want to know why my mother isn't in Azkaban where she belongs! I want to know why I'm being held here like a bloody prisoner while she gets to run free—!"

"It's complicated, Adelaide!"

"I'm quite bright! I'm sure I could keep up!" Adelaide seethed. "I think after all the effing lies you've told me for years, you could at least tell me one tiny bit of truth for once—!"

"You're being watched, Adelaide!" her father said loudly, slamming his fist on the table, causing her to flinch. "You are being watched by dark wizards who want to use you— who could hurt you far worse than your mother! I am trying to protect you!" he said harshly, breath heavy.

Adelaide stared at him in surprise. "W-what?" she squeaked.

Filip sighed, fighting to regain his composure. "I'm sure you've figured it out by now, but Mr. Riddle is much more than just a tutor."

"I know who he is." Adelaide said quietly.

Filip nodded gravely. "He wants you to join him… He will know if I let you run off to a blood-traitor's home and he will retaliate— either against you or your friends… I know it's hard to understand, but I am trying to protect you."

Tom Riddle. Tom whatever his middle name was Riddle was the one who was keeping her a prisoner in her own home, keeping her away from her friends. Of course.

"But… what about at school? He has to know who my friends are—"

"He knows that you fraternize with blood traitors, yes... but he also knows you are friends with Regulus and Evan, and your mother has done a very good job convincing the Slytherins that your loyalties rest with the Dark Lord through that little weasel Avery that—"

Adelaide couldn't help but smirk at the fact that her father had referred to her nemesis as a weasel in a very serious conversation.

"—that he hasn't started to truly question your loyalty just yet." her father finished.

Adelaide felt her heart race a bit. Her real thoughts on blood status and purity were something she had never explicitly discussed with her father, but just from the way he was speaking, Adelaide got the vibe that he knew that her ideals differed from his. "My loyalty will never be to him." she said solemnly, chancing a look up at the man.

"I know." Filip said, completely unsurprised.

"And I don't believe in all that blood status stuff…" she said in a quiet voice, head down and fiddling with her sleeve. She knew this was something that could get her in trouble, but if she was asking him not to lie, the least she could do was tell the truth as well.

"I know." he said calmly once again. "I've known for a long time… though I did hope it was a phase."

"You're not— you're not mad?" Adelaide asked, peaking up at him.

"I'm a little disappointed... But not mad..." Filip said calmly.

Adelaide stared for a moment, before asking, "Is Riddle the reason you haven't sent mum to Azkaban?"

Filip's face hardened and his jaw clinched. "Partially." he answered honestly. "I think it's time you go off to bed." he said suddenly, standing from the table.

Adelaide blinked. "Oh… um… o-okay…" she said mostly out of surprise. "Erm… but can I have my wand back now?"

* * *

Once Adelaide was back in her room and had showered and dressed herself for bed, she caught sight of the pretty compact mirror on her bedside table sitting beside her newly returned wand. She almost didn't want to touch the mirror, knowing that there was slim to no chance Sirius had managed to find his lost mirror in one days time… But still, the possibility of having her bestest best friend/ boyfriend waiting for her on the other side was too much to pass up.

So, from where she sat upon her soft bed with her damp hair falling down at her sides, Adelaide carefully reached for the mirror.

It was warm.

Adelaide nearly fell off the bed in her excitement, fingers fumbling to open the compact.

"Sirius?" Adelaide said breathlessly, looking into the mirror with the biggest cheesiest smile imaginable, heart overflowing with happiness as she saw a pair of grey eyes flash in front of her.

"Erm… It's Regulus actually…" the boy chuckled awkwardly.

"Oh… um…" Adelaide quickly remembered their little squabble on the train and felt herself blush. "I— you… you found the mirror?" she said, words coming out more as a question.

Regulus moved the mirror away from him a bit and Adelaide could tell he was in Sirius's room the moment she saw the drawing of the Maruader's as animals on the wall. "You know, this is actually some sort of pocket watch type thing, I dunno why you two keep calling it a mirror— I mean it has a mirror… but it's definitely a watch— " Regulus rambled nervously.

"Um… Is Sirius there?" Adelaide asked, hoping she wasn't hurting his feelings by asking. Truthfully, she was quite happy to see Regulus despite their argument on the train, but she _had_ to see Sirius.

Regulus looked worried. "He is… That's sort of why I had to track this thing down… took some major convincing to get it away from Kreature…" he chuckled awkwardly. Adelaide could tell something was wrong.

"Where is he? I want to talk to him." she said sternly, trying to focus the boy.

"Erm… not to repeat old times or anything… but he um… well… he's a little out of it right now… and I— I didn't really know what to do… Mum won't help him—"

 _"A little out of it?"_ she repeated. "Is he conscious?"

"Erm… well yes… I tried to brew him a painkiller potion because he kept saying his head hurt, but I think I made it a little too strong… He keeps talking about you— little annoying actually, you'd think he'd be a little more grateful that I—"

Adelaide rolled her eyes. "Reggie. Please let me talk to him."

"Okay… but don't start snogging through the mirror or whatever… I'd like to keep my dinner in my stomach…" he muttered, handing the mirror off.

"ADDYKINS! MY SWEET BEAUTIFUL SEXY GIRLFRIEND!" Sirius said loudly, and much too close to the mirror. Adelaide soon realized he was trying to kiss her face through the glass and felt a loud laugh escape her lips.

She quickly grabbed her wand to throw a muffling charm around her room incase her dad came running in again.

"UGH! BAD SIRIUS! I SAID NO SNOGGING!" Regulus's voice said in disgust.

"But look at her face, Reg! How can I not? She's so cute!" Sirius said with a dopey grin… actually the only thing Adelaide could see at this point was his dopey grin since he was still holding the mirror too close.

"Addy! Please tell me how to fix him!" Regulus whined. "He's even more annoying than usual!"

Again, Adelaide laughed. "I'm afraid you'll just have to wait for it to wear off, Reggie." she giggled.

Adelaide heard Regulus sigh in exasperation, then watched as he tried to help Sirius hold the mirror far enough away that she could see his whole face. As soon as he did, Adelaide felt her heart break. Sirius's face was cut in several places, purple bruises all over, but mostly on his jaw, with a black eye on the right side.

"W-what happened?" she asked, tears in her eyes seeing him so hurt and imagining what he must have gone through to receive such wounds. Sirius never spoke much about what life was like when he went home, Adelaide suspected he didn't want to worry her, but she knew it wasn't at all pleasant.

"Mumsy got mad at me." Sirius pouted. "But I feel great now!" he grinned. "And I get to see my super mega foxy awesome hot girlfriend—"

"Sirius, I swear to Salazar I will knock you out again if you don't cut it out—" Regulus grumbled.

"Oh, don't be such a kill joy, Reggie." Adelaide giggled.

Sirius looked as if he just remembered something very important. "Addykins! Your dad yelled at my parents! You were— you looked dead Addykins! Why did you look dead?" he asked, eyes looking like little grey storm clouds in his concern.

Adelaide hesitated. "I fainted… my mum… she um…"

"Did she hurt you?" Sirius asked as if he was in pain, which she knew was impossible given how loopy he was.

"Y-yes." Adelaide said quietly. "But she's not here anymore…"

"I'm going to kill her." Sirius said matter-of-factly. "Or turn her into a turtle… One of the two… Hey! Addy, can you teach Reg how to make Wallace?!"

Adelaide chuckled, grateful for his sporadic thinking. She really didn't want to talk about what happened. "Sure…" she smirked.

Regulus jerked the mirror out of Sirius's hands and Adelaide heard Sirius whine like a sad puppy. "Who the hell is this Wallace, and why does he keep throwing pillows and socks at me every time he tells me to 'make him'?" Regulus asked, clearly flummoxed and a little irritated, which Adelaide found hilarious.

"Wallace is a duck!" she laughed. "There's a charm I do that turns stuff into ducks… like the one I did on your book that one time. He's grown quite attached to the Mallard… but I haven't had the heart to tell him it's actually a girl duck…" she giggled in a hushed voice.

Adelaide helped Regulus in his attempt to charm Wallace back into existence late into the night, until finally he managed to create a duckling out of an old sock.

"BABY WALLACE IS ALMOST AS CUTE AS YOU, ADDYKINS!" Sirius cheered, nuzzling the little fluffy duck.

Once again Regulus took the mirror back while Sirius gushed over his new little pet. "Erm… listen Ads, I just want to say I'm sorry about all that stuff on the train—"

"No. _I'm_ sorry." Adelaide said, cutting him off. "I should've thought more about what it must be like for you…"

Regulus gave her a half smile. "So… truce?"

"Truce." she smiled back with a nod.

"So, um… how are you holding up over there?" Regulus asked, moving further away from Sirius. "Mimsy said you hurt your ankle or something last we heard—"

" _Mimsy_ said? What are you talking about?"

Regulus looked just about as confused as she did. "Well… after she got your dad out of that meeting, Kreature had her come and let us know how you were doing… apparently she talks too much for him to have the patience to repeat everything—"

" _Mimsy_ got my dad? Reggie— she— I'm so confused."

"I thought she would have told you..." Regulus muttered, clearly off-footed. "Erm… Well when we got back from the train station Sirius was super upset and worried because of your mum and all that. So, I suggested we get Kreature to get Mimsy to check on you. But Mimsy had already pulled your dad out of some big meeting with the Minister of Magic saying you were hurt, and so I guess your dad said something about having to go to Saint Mungo's… anyway he canceled the meeting with the Minster and saved you from your mum. Then he showed up at our house with you, yelled at mum about her being responsible for some reason— quite frightening to be honest— then he left with you all dead looking like Sirius said." Regulus told her, a little out of breath. "Anyway, that night Mimsy came herself to let us know you weren't dead, but that you hurt your ankle trying to run away, but it was okay because the owl was keeping watch— I think Sirius may have still been passed out during that bit—"

"The owl was keeping watch?" Adelaide repeated. "You mean Berwin?"

"Yeah. That little bossy thing. I think your dad and him have some understanding by what Mimsy said… anyway he's supposed to let your dad know if you seem upset or break yourself somehow in the night…" Regulus said with a shrug. "Kind of like what I'm having to do with this dingbat right now." he grumbled, referring to his loopy older brother.

"Mimsy… she saved me..." Adelaide said in disbelief.

"Well of course she saved you, you idiot! She loves you!" Regulus laughed.

"NO, _I_ LOVE ADDYKINS!" Sirius screamed incredulously.

Adelaide felt her face heat up and could only imagine what a brilliant color of red it must have been.

"No one said you didn't—"

"NO REG, I LOVE HER MORE!"

"It's not a bloody competition, Sirius!" Regulus said to the boy in annoyance.

"IF IT WAS I WOULD WIN!" Sirius said obnoxiously, only further adding to Adelaide's blush. "ADDYKINS, TELL HIM I WOULD WIN!"

Adelaide face palmed watching Regulus smirk. "He would win..." she murmured.

"So, anything else interesting happen since you've been back?" Regulus asked, quite entertained by his blonde friend's embarrassment.

Adelaide sighed, leaning back on her bed holding the mirror over her. "Not really, snooped around some, found out Voldy's been stalking me, nothing too exciting." she shrugged.

"VOLDY'S STALKING YOU?" Sirius asked. "Reg, gimme the mirror—!"

"—NO—"

"—Reg give it!" Adelaide strongly suspected that Sirius threw a pillow at him from the way the picture moved.

"—Stop it! You're going to break it!" Regulus complained. "Merlin, here!"

Adelaide now saw Sirius looking quite concerned, with the little duckling snuggled in his armpit, one hand stroking its feathers lightly as the other held the mirror. "Voldy's stalking you, love?"

"Erm… yes. But it's okay, Siri… I just have to be more careful…" she said gently.

Sirius nodded. "I'm going to punch him in the nose if I see him again." he said in all sincerity.

Adelaide let out a soft laugh, heart sinking seeing him all battered once again. "You need to be more careful too Sirius… You're too handsome to be getting all bloodied up like that…" she giggled.

"I'm fine, Addykins." he said soberly. "I'll just look more ruggedly handsome now." he winked.

Adelaide rolled her eyes. "Okay, I think it's time we all get some sleep, yeah?" she laughed.

"Okay… but I'm gonna keep you right here in case you have a bad dream, alright, love?" Siris said, pointing to the side of the bed.

Adelaide blushed again. "Alrighty, Siri."

"And _that's_ my cue to leave…" Regulus muttered. "Night, Ads!"

"Night Reggie…" she yawned, listening to Regulus leave the room.

"I meant what I said Addy." Sirius said quietly. "I know I'm all loopy… but I meant it." he murmured, yawning as well.

"I believe you," she chuckled sleepily, cozying up in her covers. "But I want to be there when you punch Voldy, okay?"

"Oh. I mean… I meant that part too… but I was talking about the other thing."

Adelaide furrowed her brows slightly, pouting a bit in confusion. "huh?"

"I love you, Addykins." Sirius said casually with another yawn, eyes fluttering closed.

Adelaide didn't even have time to respond before he fell asleep right before her eyes.


	84. Chapter 84

**Chapter 84- How Un-Puglike**

 _Little Adelaide sat upon the tree swing with her fluffy toy cat in her lap, swinging back and forth in the night, bursting with happiness. Little magic specks of light danced around her and she felt as if she was swimming in the stars. She giggled and swung higher in awe. "They're so pretty, Alex!"_

 _The boy grinned then moved his hands so that the lights burned brighter in the filtered light of the full moon, rearranging themselves into what looked like a cat, much to his little sister's delight._

 _"LAIDY! ALEX!" their father called from somewhere far away, "DINNER! TIME TO COME IN!"_

 _Adelaide quickly jumped off the swing and tottered away toward the entrance of the garden, extremely excited about the prospect of eating mashed potatoes._

 _"Race you!" the boy laughed from behind her._

 _Adelaide looked over her shoulder to flash him a mischievous smile, then ran as fast as her little legs would take her, not realizing that the older boy was letting her win. "I'm going to win!" she said loudly with a giggle._

 _She kept running and running along the moonlit, tree covered path until suddenly, she stopped dead in her tracks and pouted._

 _"Laidy, you know you're not going to win by just standing there!" Alex laughed, catching up to her. "What's wrong, Laids?" he asked, seeing her pouting face._

 _"I left Mr. Fluff in the garden..." she said sadly._

 _"LAIDY! ALEX! GET INSIDE!" their mother called._

 _"I'll get him for you after dinner, okay?" the boy smiled. Adelaide nodded, yet still looked quite forlorn. "Come on! I'll give you a ride up to the house!" he said crouching down for the little girl to climb onto his back. Adelaide giggled the whole way back to the manor as Alex pretended to be a dragon named Doug._

Adelaide awoke the morning of Christmas Eve a little out of breath, as if she had just been sprinting. "Not again..." she groaned to herself as she sat up in her bed, running her hands through her hair.

Just as with the first memor— _dream_ , Adelaide did her best to convince herself that what she saw was just that, a dream, _not_ a memory. But with vivid images and feelings as the ones she'd just experienced... it was becoming harder and harder to convince herself that it was all in her imagination.

But it _had_ to be her imagination.

Her tireless study on the subject since her return home only served to prove the fact that obliviated memories could only be recovered at the cost of one's sanity and/or short-term memory.

Seeking a distraction from these troublesome thoughts, she reached out to the compact mirror and whispered, "Sirius Orion Black the Third", fogging the glass slightly as she did so. As she waited for him to respond, she wondered if his picture of her would be foggy if her glass stayed foggy...

After nearly ten minutes of waiting in vain for Sirius to answer, she finally gave up, figuring he was still asleep and decided to get ready for her day.

As she got primped and searched for the perfect ensemble, Adelaide reflected on her conversation with her loopy boyfriend a few nights before... and his oddly casual declaration of love...

While what he said was incredibly sweet, she had a hard time really believing that he meant it. After all, he had begged for a charmed duck half the night and whined for most of the other half. Most of his memory of the night under the influence of Regulus's botched painkiller potion was spotty, and he didn't seem to have _any_ recollection of his profession of love. Besides, if he _had_ meant it, she thought that surely he would have brought it up again in one of their other subsequent chats.

Once ready and dressed in Sirius's comfy red oversized jumper, Adelaide stashed her wand and the mirror in her jean pockets and made her way down the grand, ornate, white marble staircase and on toward the kitchen. However, she paused along the way as she approached her mother's private parlor.

She had yet to explore the hidden room any further since the day she found it, and it was driving her absolutely mad with curiosity.

As she gazed through the glass paned french doors, looking into the pink and flowery room, her mind began to wander. Thoughts of the purpose of the mysterious room hidden behind the unassuming parlor wall, of what secrets could lie within the ornate hat box and strange glowing vials, began to drown out every rational thought within her mind. Soon, curiosity overtook her and she found herself reaching, despite her better judgment, for the golden handle of the parlor door, stopped only by her father's voice calling from the distance.

"Adelaide? Is that you?"

"Yes!" she answered, quickly coming to her senses and retracting her hand, hustling again toward the kitchen.

"What were you doing?" Filip asked with a hint of suspicion laced in his low voice.

Adelaide shrugged noncommittally as she passed him to sit at the table. "Just admiring mum's flower choices." she lied casually.

Filip wasn't sure if he should believe her or not. She was a very good liar, always had been... but then again, so was he...

"Perhaps we can visit the florist before you head back to school..." he suggested. "Pick up some new flowers for your garden." Adelaide's jaw instantly dropped open in surprise, giving Filip an excellent view of her half eaten oatmeal. "Adelaide Rose, mind your manners!" he scolded in slight disgust.

Adelaide snapped her mouth closed and swallowed her food before speaking again. "You really want to go flower shopping with me?" she asked in disbelief.

Filip gave her a confused look as he sat down to eat his own breakfast of eggs and toast. "You enjoy flowers, do you not?"

"I mean I do... I just didn't think you'd... I dunno... be up for something like that..." she said awkwardly. Yes, he had been strangely kind lately, but he had never offered to do _anything_ like that for her before... It was as if he genuinely wanted to spend time with her...

It was weird.

"I happen to find flower shops very relaxing." he said cooly with the slightest hint of a smile.

Adelaide tried very hard to keep from grinning, after all, she was still a little upset with him for allowing her to be tortured, but failed as she felt a small, warm smile tug at her lips.

"Mimsy laid out a dress for you to wear at the dinner party tonight," her father said, changing the subject.

Adelaide groaned and slumped in her seat at the thought. They were spending Christmas Eve with a few of the other pureblood families at Malfoy Manor.

"I know it's not the sort of thing you particularly enjoy... but I think you'll be happier when you hear of who will be in attendance..."

"Sirius?" Adelaide asked hopefully.

Filip frowned slightly. "No. But the Selwyn's will be there... You and Robert are close, right?"

"Yeah... I guess..." she said in disappointment. Her letters with Robert Selwyn had decreased significantly since she and Sirius began dating. Robert obviously followed in step with his parents ideals on blood purity, but they always got along well enough as long as they steered the conversation toward Quidditch. "But is his cousin going to be there? Dollie?" she asked in a whiny tone.

"No, but his sister, Rebecca, will be. I heard she's training with the Bulgarian National reserve team as a beater."

"Cool..." Adelaide said, propping an arm up by her elbow and resting her hand on her cheek. She could honestly care less about that snooty girl's accomplishments.

* * *

Dressed in her long emerald velvet evening gown, Adelaide stepped inside the stately and distinguished Malfoy Manner at her father's side. Her long, straight, nearly white hair cascaded down her back, and she felt confident in her gussied up make-up for once.

"Oh! Adelaide, darling! You look lovely! So grown up!" gushed Dahlia Selwyn, ice blue eyes alight just at the sight of her potential daughter in law.

"Thank you, Mrs. Selwyn." Adelaide said politely in the signature pureblood drawl she always adopted for such formal gatherings.

"Ah! There you are Filip!" said their host, Abraxas Malfoy. "Come in! Come in!" Malfoy handed them each a Flute of champagne and gestured for them to join their little conversation

"I was so sorry to hear about Cathy's sister being ill..." Dahlia said to Mr. Fawley. Adelaide nearly laughed at the ridiculous cover up story but held it together. Mrs. Selwyn was a notorious gossip and it was obvious she was fishing for information. "What was it you said she was sick with, Filip?"

"I didn't." Filip said flatly, putting an effective end to her line of questioning.

As the conversation moved to more and more boring topics, Adelaide excused herself, wandering over to the house elf waiting nervously in the corner.

"Hello, Dobby." she smiled kindly to the anxious elf. "Did you put up all these decorations yourself?" she asked, looking around the large drawing room full of garlands, fairy lights, shimmering tinsel, and poinsettias.

The elf looked up at her with his gigantic green eyes and nodded. "Y-yes, Ma'am!"

"They are absolutely wonderful! You did a lovely job!" she praised, feeling oddly satisfied with his tearful thanks.

"Chatting it up with the help?" drawled a familiar, annoying voice.

Adelaide turned to face the pointy faced Weasel. "Happy Christmas, Avery." she said in forced politeness.

He scoffed, making a rude face at Dobby that sent the elf running away and causing Adelaide to frown. "I hear your mother's run off to Austria... Can't blame her... If I lived with you I'd probably skip the country as well." he sneered.

"One can only hope..." Adelaide said airily, trying very hard to keep her temper in check so that she could avoid hexing her nemesis into oblivion. She just wanted to get through the night without any great dramatics for once.

"I see Black isn't here... Has he left the country as well?"

"He's spending the holiday with his own family." she said shortly.

Micheal Avery nodded looking pompous as ever. "Perhaps some of their sense will rub off on him, filthy blood-traitor... I honestly don't know how you can stand to be in the same room as him, much less snog him—"

"Oh give it a rest." she said in annoyance, dropping the pureblood drawl. "I get that you're jealous of me and all, but—"

 _"Jealous?"_ he repeated incredulously. "Of _you?_ Ha! Why on earth would I _possibly_ be jealous of _you?"_

Adelaide smirked. "Well I always assumed you wanted Sirius for yourself..."

Avery looked utterly indignant. "Be serious—"

"Be Sirius, eh? Bet you'd like that..." she smirked wider, growing more and more satisfied with his annoyance.

"Ugh! You are so childish!" he said childishly.

Adelaide rolled her eyes. "You know I think I need to powder my nose... or stab myself in the eye with a fork, or something..." she said in a bored tone, moving languidly to leave.

"For your information I am _not_ jealous!" he called out behind her.

Adelaide waved her hand dismissively, not even humoring him by looking back. "What ever you say, Mikey!"

"Don't call me that!" she heard him whine as she finally made it to the loo.

After touching up her bright red lipstick a tad, checking the magic mirror in her handbag, and stalling as long as was socially acceptable in the washroom, Adelaide reluctantly rejoined the party, steering clear of the weasel by busying herself with a glass of sparkling cider.

Standing alone in the corner of the room by the drink cart, Adelaide spied Poor Rebecca Selwyn in her shimmery gold dress stuck in a conversation across the room with the ever lovely Micheal Avery, and fought to hold in a laugh at the girl's obvious disgust.

"Quite the charmer, that guy." chuckled a hushed voice from behind her. Adelaide turned to see her long-time pen pal, Robert Selwyn, now standing at her side and was almost shocked by how un-puglike he looked. He was at least a head taller than her (though this wasn't difficult as she was still quite petite) with broad shoulders; his signature upturned nose now seemed to fit his face, and his ice-blue eyes looked down at her curiously behind his inky black hair.

"Rob!" Adelaide said with a wide, yet slightly bewildered smile. "You— you look different." she said awkwardly.

"You look different as well..." he said, looking her up and down approvingly with a small smirk. "But, one thing's the same... you're still the prettiest one in the room." he winked.

Adelaide turned away in an effort to try to hide her blush. She forgot just how flirty Robert was. "So, how have you been? How's Durmstrang?" she asked, taking a sip of her sparkling cider, noticing just how close he was standing, and really wishing that Sirius was there.

"Oh, you know..." he shrugged. "School is school."

"Have they re-thought that no fireplaces policy yet?" Adelaide asked slyly.

"No, not yet." Robert chuckled heartily. "How have you been? I see you left the guard dog at home this time."

Adelaide rolled her eyes. Sirius refused to refer to Robert by anything other than 'Pugface McGee,' and Robert referred to Sirius almost exclusively as her 'guard dog'. "I've been... erm... I've been getting on rather well with my dad lately..." she shrugged, deciding it was better not to mention her recent bouts of PTSD due to being tortured.

"Yeah, I heard your mum left to go stay with some sick sister... Must be quiet with just the two of you."

Adelaide gave a benign smile. "Yes, but it's been... nice. The quiet that is..." she said softly glancing over to Robert only to find him looking back at her quite intently.

"I get that... I've been stuck here for the whole break— Lucius has these damn peacocks that are so bloody loud— they just screech and scream all hours of the night— and they are literally the _only_ thing he talks about— you'd think now that he's married he'd have _something, anything_ to talk about other than those bloody—" Robert cut himself off from his little rant, smirking as he noticed Adelaide trying desperately not to giggle. "This is a very grave matter, Miss Fawley!"

"I'm sorry, please continue." she said, still trying not to smile.

"Ah, well, I've lost my train of thought now." he shrugged with a smirk, giving her a side eyed glance.

Adelaide fiddled with her glass and looked again to his poor twin sister who seemed to be growing more and more annoyed the longer she was stuck talking to Avery. "Rebecca looks... _entertained_." Adelaide snorted.

Robert let out a short laugh. "She looks about ready to hex him."

"Oh, I do hope she does, it might liven things up a bit."

Robert chuckled at the thought. "Yeah, these things can be so boring. Honestly, the only reason I even agreed to come was because father said you'd be here." he said truthfully, watching a blush bloom across Adelaide's cheeks... once again . "You know, you blush an awful lot." he commented with a small smile, bumping shoulders with the girl.

Adelaide rolled her eyes. "So I've been told..." she sighed, once again missing Sirius.

The two chatted for a while longer about Lucius being the victim of a muggle baiting prank, which Robert found hilarious, but eventually Abraxas Malfoy started clinking a butter knife against his glass to gather everyone's attention and inform them that dinner was to begin.

Adelaide meandered over to the long overdecorated table and was unsurprised to find that she had been seated beside Robert for the duration of the meal.

She did her very best to keep quiet during the conversations, sharing knowing looks with her father at every mention of _Mudblood's_ , _Muggle filth_ , and _half-breeds_. But as the pudding was being served, she was unwillingly brought into the conversation.

"Adelaide, you're a Gryffindor—how _do_ you stand to be around all those mud-blood lovers?" Cassius Selwyn slurred in his booming voice, only made more obnoxious and irritating by the vast amounts of scotch he had consumed that evening.

Adelaide saw her father look at her pointedly, obviously willing her to not bring up her controversial beliefs.

"I-I um... uh..." Adelaide stammered, trying to find a way to answer without actually answering. What was she supposed to say? She wasn't going to denounce her own beliefs, but she also couldn't promote theirs... "Well I erm..."

"She probably just does her best to avoid them," Robert said casually, coming to her rescue. "Becca, why don't you tell everyone about that Quidditch practice you had where everyone played upside down!"

Adelaide let out a sigh of relief as the conversation moved to Quidditch.

"Thank you..." she whispered discretely to the boy beside her.

Robert shrugged. "It's nothing. Dad can get pretty obnoxious... besides, I thought you'd have a hard time answering considering your guard dog happens to be one of them..." he whispered back.

Adelaide pursed her lips, resenting his negative connotation. "Well, thanks all the same."

Once the meal came to a close and the adults were all chatting it up about boring matters once more, Robert's mother suggested that he take Adelaide for a tour of the Manor. Adelaide nearly rolled her eyes at her obvious attempt to get them together, but went along with the little ploy if for no other reason than to escape her irritating company.

Thankfully, Adelaide felt oddly at ease as they strolled around the cold and slightly creepy manor, discussing their favorite Quidditch strategies. He knew nearly as much as James.

"—Porskoff? Really!? I would've pegged you more as a Gwendolyn Morgan Fan—"

"Oh Gwendolyn Morgan is my absolute _favorite!_ I swear I nearly fainted when I met her—"

Robert stopped in his tracks staring at the pale-blonde girl with an odd expression. "You _met_ her?! You met Gwendolyn Morgan?!" He asked, voice getting more and more shrill with excitement. "HOW?!"

Adelaide laughed at his enthusiasm. "She was at this party one of my professors threw last year. She was so nice! Sirius and I were just freaking out the whole time! He nearly fainted too when she complemented him!" she giggled. "But I could hardly get a word out I was so star struck. He teased me about it for weeks afterward!"

Robert gave her a funny look as they continued on their way. "You and Black really _are_ close, huh?"

"Well, yeah... I mean we're best friends!" she laughed, feeling awkward the longer he looked at her with that odd expression.

Robert raised an eyebrow. "That's all?" he asked knowingly.

Adelaide squirmed a but under his gaze. Was she even allowed to tell him, one of her suitors, that she was dating one of her other suitors? It seemed like it was against the rules or something. After all, her betrothal wasn't even her choice to make.

"You fancy him, don't you?" he guessed again, looking almost sad, which only confused Adelaide further. Sure, they wrote letters often, but they were hardly more than acquaintances. She couldn't understand why he would care who she fancied. Nevertheless, Adelaide glanced up at him, then back down to the oddly familiar marble floor of the manor hallway and nodded.

"You need to be careful..." he said tentatively. "Being around him."

 _"Excuse me?"_ Adelaide said, more than a little offended.

Robert threw his hands up in defense. "It's nothing against Black—I'm sure he's a great guard dog—I just— the stuff he believes, Ads... I've heard of people being killed for less..." he said darkly. "Riddle's fond of you from what I've heard, but you do _not_ want to get on his bad side, Ads."

"I'm not going to let Riddle's opinions dictate how I live my life." she scoffed.

Robert tensed beside her. "Just promise me you'll be careful... alright?"

"Why do you care what I do? You hardly know me." she snapped.

Robert looked a little stunned. "I dunno, maybe I just don't want my future wife to put her whole future family at risk because of some bloke she fancies—!"

Adelaide laughed humorlessly. "You really think I'm going to go through with all that arranged marriage shit?" she said incredulously, regretting her words almost immediately. That was most certainly _not_ something she was supposed to say to a potential suitor.

Robert was rightfully taken back in surprise. "Y-you— Wait, w-what?" he stammered. "You do realize you'll be disowned if you don't go through with this marriage thing, whoever it ends up being—"

"I'm well aware of the consequences..." she said softly, avoiding eye contact. Honestly, she wasn't even sure where those words came from... perhaps Sirius was finally rubbing off on her. "I was just upset... I-I didn't really mean it..."

Robert looked sad once again. "I hope you didn't..."

"Let's just get back to talking about Quidditch." Adelaide suggested with an awkward smile.

* * *

The rest of the evening went about as well as could be expected. Avery got in a few more snide comments, Cassius was obnoxious, and Robert bounced right back into his flirty self before saying goodbye. It wasn't until they were just about to head out that Adelaide felt the mirror in her dress pocket heat up so much that she was mildly worried it would burn through the fabric and against her leg.

"Um... I'm going to head to the washroom before we leave..." she said quickly, running off toward the bathroom furthest away from the others, then on past the restroom door to a secluded hallway, well away from anyone who might want to listen in.

"Sirius?" she hissed as she opened the mirror, hoping he wasn't broken and bruised again.

"Hey, Addykins!" Sirius said brightly, smiling wide. "Woah, you look hot." he said factually. "Where are you?"

Adelaide felt her cheeks burn as she ran a hand through her hair. "Thanks, um... I'm at the Malfoy's... stupid Christmas Eve dinner." she said softly. "What's up?"

"Lame." he said scrunching his nose up in disgust. "I just wanted to be the first to wish you a Merry Christmas." he said with a sweet smile.

Adelaide smiled wide. "Such a good boyfriend." she laughed softly.

"I try." he said looking quite proud of himself. "So, how was the dinner?"

"Meh... I saw that little elf from Mimsy's birthday party— you know, the one that kept bashing his head into the tree— and Avery and Robert were here, so there's that—"

"Avery and Pugface?! Good Merlin Ads! Did you hex anyone at this thing?" he asked, completely sincere.

"Nearly hexed Avery, but I really got under his skin, so that was just as good. And Robert was actually pretty pleasant." she shrugged, leaning against the wall.

Sirius made a face. "Please tell me you didn't flirt with him."

"I didn't! But he um... well he was rather complimentary—"

"That's it, I'm going to floo over there and punch him..."

"Oh calm down," Adelaide laughed lightly and rolled her eyes. "It was harmless."

Sirius pouted. "It's the principle of the matter, Addy."

"Well for what it's worth, he knows I fancy you."

"He knew... and _still_ flirted?! Well now I _have_ to punch him, Ads!" he whined, flailing his arms around so that they went out of view of the mirror.

Adelaide giggled at his dramatics. "How was your night?"

"Ugh, stuck in a house full of my stupid cousins... I don't even have Andy to hang out with anymore— she got disowned because she married that Muggle-Born, Todd? Ted? Tim? Something like that... but other than that, same old crap." he said casually.

Adelaide thought she heard footsteps and whipped her head toward the entrance of the hall, but there was no one to be seen.

"So um... you still having those dreams?" Sirius asked carefully. Adelaide's heart beat a little faster thinking he was talking about her recovered memories, but she hadn't even mentioned them to him... how could he possibly know?

"W-what?"

"The erm... the nightmares... The future ones..." he said, trying to not push her.

Adelaide blinked. That wasn't what she was expecting him to say. "Oh um..."

"Sorry, I know it's Christmas and I shouldn't have brought it up. It's just... well you're _in_ Malfoy Manor, and it just reminded me—"

A little shiver ran down her spine just at the thought of him potentially being tortured in that house in the somewhat near future. "No, it's okay... I haven't had any of _those_ types of dreams... just erm... flashbacks." she said. It wasn't a lie. She really was having night scares about her mother, it was just that the dreams of her brother were out weighing them.

Sirius furrowed his brows. "I hate not being there."

"Only a little while longer." she said forcing a smile.

Sirius nodded. "Yeah, well I guess I should let you get back to your party or whatever..."

"I'll see you soon, Padfoot." she said blowing him a kiss as he grinned, despite his sadness.

As she closed the mirror, she could have sworn she heard him say, 'Love you, Addykins,' but it was so faint and barely audible that she figured she just misheard him.

Adelaide walked back to the gathering of people in much brighter spirits than she'd been in the entire night. Just seeing and talking to Sirius was enough to light up her face and bring some color to her cheeks.

"What the hell— who were you talking to?" A tall broad shouldered figure stopped her from leaving the hallway.

Adelaide looked up to the icy blue eyed sixteen year old boy and felt her heart drop into her stomach and her mouth go dry. "Why were you stalking me?" she bristled.

"I wasn't. I was going to bed and I heard voices..."

"Not a good sign." Adelaide tutted trying to scoot past him. "You should probably see a healer about that—"

"Adelaide! Stop it! I know what I heard!" Robert said, obviously losing his patience with her evasive answers.

"Well perhaps you heard a ghost." she said cooly.

Suddenly the mirror began to heat up in her hand causing Adelaide to flinch. "What've you got there?" Robert asked suspiciously, pointing to the mirror.

"N-nothing." Adelaide said quickly, moving the mirror out of view.

Robert acted as if he believed her for a moment, then snatched the mirror out of her hand when she was least expecting it.

"Hey! Stop it! Give it back!" she said in desperation, reaching for the mirror Robert Selwyn was now holding far out of her reach.

"What is this thing?" he muttered to himself, examining it.

"It's just a mirror, now give—it—back!" Adelaide growled, now resorting to jumping up and down to snatch it back.

"Why is it all hot?" he asked, beginning to fiddle with the clasp.

Adelaide, who was already panicking, panicked further. "It was in my hand... I have hot hands. Family trait." she chuckled nervously. "Please just give it back!"

Robert ignored her and proceeded to do the one thing she very much hoped he wouldn't do.

He opened the mirror.

"Addykins! I have something to... tell... you..." Sirius's voice said from far above Adelaide's head.

Robert looked down with a smirk. "Ohh... This is— this is just perfect—"

"Listen here Pugface! I swear I will—"

"Sirius stop it!" Adelaide whined. "Rob please just give it back!" she begged.

"No, no! I want to have a chat with your guard dog—" Robert sneered.

"Guard Dog?" Sirius snorted. "Was that supposed to be an insult?" he laughed.

Robert looked mildly annoyed. "Look. I just wanted to tell you to keep her safe, alright?"

"Wait, what?" Sirius asked in confusion.

"I don't like you." Robert began haughtily. "I don't like your messed up blood-traitor beliefs— actually I don't really like anything about you to be honest. But I like Addy, and she likes you. So, I just want you to make sure that you aren't the reason she get's herself killed by The Dark Lord, alright? So just keep her safe." Adelaide caught a glimpse of a puzzled Sirius nodding as Robert handed the mirror back to her. "I'll let you two say your goodbyes or I love you's or whatever. It was good seeing you Ads, have a good Christmas." Robert said before walking on down the hallway to leave.

Once he was well out of earshot, Adelaide looked back at Sirius in the mirror, both temporarily stunned into silence. "That— that was not the way I thought that would go." Adelaide said quietly.

"Not by a long shot." Sirius said with wide eyes. "But I still want to punch him." he smirked, breaking the weird atmosphere.

"So what was it you had to mirror me again to say?" Adelaide asked curiously.

"Oh... um... it's erm... not important." he said awkwardly.

Adelaide made a face at his horrible attempt at lying. "You big fat liar. Tell me!"

Sirius sighed. "It's really nothing Ads. I just wanted to tell you goodnight again." he smiled, lying a little more convincingly this time... but Adelaide still could tell there was something he wasn't telling her.

"Alright, well goodnight." she smiled softly, giggling when he blew a kiss through the mirror this time.

Once again as she closed the mirror she thought she heard a faint, 'I love you,' but it must've been her imagination.


	85. Chapter 85

**Chapter 85- BAD WOLF**

Remus Lupin sat upon a metal bench at Platform Nine and three-quarters with his mother, Hope Lupin, waiting for his friends to arrive. Given his lack of will to move that morning, it was a miracle that he was able to get himself up and out the door at all, much less arrive as early as he had.

The full moon was that night and he was feeling particularly awful— he was tired and run down, he had a head ache, and his joints ached, as if they were groaning in anticipation of the dreadful night to come. The only thing that kept him going through the lethargy was the knowledge that he wouldn't have to spend this transformation alone and chained in his parent's basement.

"Alright, now if you need anything you just write us, okay pumpkin?" Hope Lupin fussed as she anxiously tried to fix her son's sandy brown hair. Normally, Remus would have found her public doting a tad embarrassing, but again, he was too tired to really care too much about anything other than the glorious nap he would take on the train...

"Alrigh' Mum." Remus said with a tired smile.

Remus felt his eyelids become heavier and heavier the longer he sat, mind wondering if he had enough sickles to buy a chocolate bar from the trolly lady... then he wondered what her name was, the Trolly lady? What did she do when she wasn't selling students sugary confections? Did she have a day job? A family? A cat? Was she a cat person or a dog person? Perhaps she had a kneazle or a crup or something exotic like that... It wasn't until a melodic voice squealed, "Remmyyyyy! Remmy Remmy Remmy!" that he realized his eyes had shut.

Feeling slightly disoriented, Remus opened his amber eyes and saw a grinning girl in a deep purple jumper running toward him, followed slowly after by a man in a dark suit with matching nearly-white hair, holding a strange potted plant and pushing her trolley with his wand. "Addy!" Remus said, standing up and grinning wide despite his fatigue.

As the girl came closer to give him a rather aggressive hug, the tired werewolf noticed that she looked eerily similar to himself— pale with dark bags under her eyes—She looked as if she hadn't had a proper night's sleep in ages.

"Addy?!" said Mrs. Lupin, perking up at the mention of her son's most illusive best friend.

Remus pulled free of her embrace and looked awkwardly between the girl and his mother, realizing he should probably introduce them. "Erm— Addy this is my mum, Mum this is my best friend Addy."

Hope instantly brought the girl in for a hug smiling wide. "It's so lovely to finally put a face to the name!" she laughed. "Remus, you never mentioned how pretty she was..." she smirked under her breath causing both Remus and Adelaide to blush slightly.

"Mum..." Remus groaned, rolling his eyes.

"Oh and you must be her father!" Hope said cheerily, extending her arm to shake hands with the oddly stoic man holding a strange plant.

Mr. Fawley hesitated and Remus suddenly realized why. His mother was a muggle. A fact Adelaide neither knew nor would have cared about, but that her father most likely knew _and_ cared a great deal about. To his immense relief, Remus watched Mr. Fawley politely shake his mother's hand and exchange pleasantries as if she were any other member of the magical community.

Meanwhile Adelaide continued to smile her infectious smile. "Remmy! I missed you so stinking much!" she said, giving him another hug causing the tall boy to chuckle. "Did you get your gift? How was James's house? Did you ice skate?"

Remus took a deep breath to try to answer, but his words died in his throat as he overheard the two adults talking.

"... you would think after all these years I'd be used to those silly creatures!" Hope laughed. "But I still get a heart attack nearly every time an owl comes a pecking at the window!"

Adelaide's face, already quite pale, paled even more. "Rem, is your mum muggle-born?" she whispered discreetly.

Remus gulped. "Muggle." he said, watching Adelaide's face suddenly turn hard and emotionless.

"My wife isn't very fond of them either." Filip said with a polite smile. Only Adelaide could see something strange flash in those cold blue eyes. "Speaking of which, I should really be going... She's been out of town and I need to fetch her from her own train."

"Of course, of course! Well it was very nice to meet you Mr. Fawley!" Hope said kindly. "From what I've heard you have raised a lovely daughter."

Filip gave her a soft smile and a short goodbye before pulling Adelaide to the side to speak with her, leaving Remus in confusion of what had just happened. Her father was as prejudiced as they came, but he was civil— no he was downright genial to his mother, whom he had to have known was a muggle—everything about her practically screamed muggle, from her clothes to her dislike of owls. Remus couldn't make any sense of it, nor could he understand why Adelaide's mother wasn't in attendance. Since when was she out of town?

"Well he was pleasant." Hope said with a small smile, busying herself once more with fixing her son's hair.

"He was, wasn't he..." Remus said slowly, sitting back down on the bench and looking for the others.

* * *

Filip Fawley leaned down slightly to speak to his daughter more directly. "Now, remember what we talked about..."

Adelaide fought hard to keep from rolling her eyes. Her father had explained, in detail, how very important it was for her to 'play nice' with the Slytherin's and not bring any undo attention to herself— a byproduct of his paranoia about Riddle. She figured she could 'play nice' well enough, but attention was never something she really sought out in the first place... "I know... I know..." she said in a tired voice.

Filip nodded curtly, handing over the odd plant with long swaying tentacles. "Right, well here's your... erm..."

"It's a flitterbloom, dad." Adelaide sighed for what felt like the thousandth time. If their father-daughter adventure to the magical flower shop earlier that week proved anything, it was that Herbology was most certainly her father's worst subject in school.

Filip looked a little relieved to have the strange plant out of his hands. "Yes. Well, have Sirius write..." he said before giving her an awkward side-hug and appertaing away. After a moment, Adelaide wandered back over toward Remus with her tentacled plant.

"What's with the potted devil's snare?" Remus asked with a sly smile.

Puzzled, Adelaide followed his eyes to the plant in her hands. "Oh! This is Bathsheba." she stated. "She's a Flitterbloom— _Your_ Flitterbloom— technically."

Remus raised his eyebrows. "Mine?"

"Well she's for all you boys... but let's be honest, you'll be the one keeping her alive." she shrugged, taking in his pallor and frowning deeply. The full moon was only hours away and he looked miserable. "How're you feeling?" she asked softly.

"'m okay..." he shrugged.

"No, you're not." Adelaide said firmly. "You need a nap and some chocolate." she decided.

Honestly, nothing sounded better to Remus in that moment. "Whatever you say, Healer Addy." he said with a tired half-smile, once again taking in how awful his friend looked. "How're _you_?" he asked. "No offense, but you look like hell."

"Gee thanks Moons," Adelaide scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Just what every girl wants to hear—"

"I'm _serious_ , Ads— Don't make that stupid joke— You look like you haven't slept in days."

Adelaide shuffled awkwardly, looking down at her hands and fiddling with her sleeves. Remus could only think of two reasons for her sleep depravation. Either she was staying up all hours of the night doing homework (which seemed unlikely given that she was on holiday until now), or her bad dreams had made a return.

"Have you been having the nightmares again?" he asked gently.

Adelaide fiddled even more nervously with her sleeve. "Erm...Well..." She never quite got the words out, but Remus knew her well enough to tell that the answer was yes.

"Come on, why don't you help me explain this thing to mum." Remus said bumping shoulders with the girl.

Adelaide smiled. "I told you, her name is Bathsheba!" she laughed.

* * *

"Peter, I promise she's not going to kill you..." Adelaide groaned from where they waited on the platform for Sirius. "Flitterblooms are harmless! They're actually really friendly!"

The pudgy boy was still apprehensive of the weird plant named Bathsheba. Truth be told, he was just starting to warm up to Wallace—and he was adorable— but this plant looked downright terrifying. "I-I was just asking... I mean you have to admit it looks a lot like —OH MERLIN! NO NO NO! GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF OF ME!" he begged as a plant tentacle wrapped itself playfully around his hand. "SHIT, GET IT OFF!" he screamed in horror pulling in vain to rid himself from the terrifying death plants clutches.

James smirked, watching the whole scene unfold in amusement. "Aw, Wormy, I think she fancies you—"

"NOT FUNNY! ...P-PLEASE G-GET IT OFF OF ME!" the boy begged, cringing and nearly in tears.

James only found it funnier. "She only wants to hold your hand, mate! Just pretend it's Marlene!"

Adelaide sniggered, perfectly content to watch him suffer, until Remus finally gave her a critical look of disappointment. With a sigh, she began to untangle the plant from the blonde boy's hand. "Sorry Sheba, he'll warm up to you eventually." she whispered to the plant.

"ADDYKINS?"

For a split second, Adelaide thought that the plant had spoken to her— that she was the Flitterbloom Whisperer... but then she glanced up and realized it was just a dramatic poodle.

"Siri!" she squealed, catching a glimpse of the curly hair boy just before being pulled into a warm embrace. Sirius's arms wrapped around her, pulling her face to his chest, as he kissed the top of her head repeatedly. As cheesy as it may sound, Adelaide never felt safer or happier than when she was in his arms.

"I missed you so effing much, Addykins." Sirius murmured into her hair just before he finally pulled away. Carefully, he placed a sweet kiss to the bridge of her delicate nose causing her to let out a little giggle.

"I missed you too." she said standing up a little taller to give him a proper kiss on the lips... much to James Potter's dismay.

"UGH! Okay! Time to get on the train!" James said loudly. "By the way, you owe me a hug, Pads..."

* * *

Once on the train, Adelaide found herself fighting sleep once more, envying Remus's peaceful slumber on her left and Sirius's boundless energy on her right.

"Ha! I won!" Sirius cheered somewhat arrogantly upon winning a game of exploding snap.

Peter grumbled under his breath something about how he would have won if it were Wizard chess.

"Oh cheer up Wormy!" James laughed, clapping him on the back. "Heh... don't look now, but here comes your girlfriend..." he sniggered to the now blushing plump boy.

Adelaide lifted her sleepy eyes to see Marlene and her gorgeous honey blonde hair open the compartment door, deep blue eyes determined.

"To what do we owe this great pleasure?" James said in a posh voice, smirking slightly.

Marlene ignored him. "Ads, can I talk to you?"

Her tone was quite serious and not a hint of a smirk was to be found on her lips, a rather odd occurrence for the sassy blonde.

"Oh, um sure." Adelaide said a little awkwardly, pulling herself up and stepping over the various games on the floor of the compartment with a little help from Sirius.

Once out the compartment, Marlene dragged her by the hand pointedly toward an empty compartment. Adelaide wondered if this had anything to do with her missing father... There still was no official word of his whereabouts, though when she briefly went to work with her own father the day before, she overheard the Aurors say that they had a lead.

"What's all this about, Marls?" Adelaide asked, brows furrowed.

Marlene ignored her question and proceeded to tug her into the compartment and shut the door behind her. "Sit." she said pointing to the seat and taking the bench across from her.

"Marls, you're kind of freaking me out..." Adelaide chuckled nervously watching her friend sit down.

"I think I fancy Amos." Marlene said as if this was some groundbreaking new conclusion.

"Yeah? I figured... you nearly snogged his lips off—"

"No. I didn't fancy him before... I just liked making out with him... But now... I think I Really fancy him and you're the only one that knows." Marlene stated.

Adelaide blinked, confused as to why Marlene would choose her to share this information with. Surely this was something better suited for Lily, or better yet Amos Diggory himself, not her. "Oh... erm... okay... that's great! ...but I feel like you should really be telling him this and not me..."

Marlene looked a little taken aback, as if this thought had never occurred to her, which Adelaide found odd seeing as she usually thought of everything. "You're right... I should." she said with determination, standing up. "Thank you."

Adelaide watched in utter confusion as Marlene flew out of the compartment without another word. "Um... can I go back with the boys now?" Adelaide asked, poking her head out the door as the honey blonde power walked away. Marlene waved a dismissive hand and Adelaide took it as a yes. "Weird..."

* * *

Once Adelaide returned to her boys, Sirius noticed that she was having a _very_ difficult time staying awake. Multiple times she dozed off, leaning over to either Sirius or Remus's shoulders before shaking herself awake...

"Hey, Ads. Why don't you just take a nap? We still have a while until we get there." Sirius said softly.

"No! I'm not tired!" Adelaide said stubbornly. Sirius nearly laughed at her boldface lie, but instead wrapped a comforting arm around her, pulling her close to him in the perfect train nap position.

Truthfully, all she wanted to do was sleep. But, every time she did she woke up either reliving her mother's torture or seeing those same two stupid snippets of memories. It was driving her mental... and it was because of this that she started to avoid sleep all together — she'd only received about four hours combined over the past few days. It was a wonder she was functioning as well as she was.

But being so close to Sirius, feeling so relaxed and warm and safe, it was much too tempting and eventually her eyes drifted closed of their own accord.

 _Adelaide found herself standing at the french doors leading out to the back of the manor, nose pressed to the glass and eyes searching through the light of the full moon for her brother to return._

 _"Alex? Laidy? It's time for bed..." her mother said in a loud, but gentle voice. "Laidy! There you are my little cherub!" the woman grinned, picking up the little blonde girl, tickling her stomach and kissing her chubby cheeks until the little girl was in a fit of giggles. "Where's Alex?" she asked after a while, looking around._

 _Adelaide felt very guilty... Alex wasn't really supposed to go outside that late... but she left Mr. Fluff in the garden... and Alex knew she couldn't sleep without him..._

 _"Laidy... where is he?" Cathryn asked more sternly._

 _"I left Mr. Fluff outside..." Adelaide mumbled. "He went to get him..."_

 _For a moment Cathryn looked at her in a mix of shock and confusion. "He-he's outside?"_

 _Adelaide nodded. "B-but he said he'd be right back!"_

 _Cathryn's face was now filled with unadulterated fear. She quickly set Adelaide down on the ground and started screaming for Filip._

 _"Mummy? What's wrong, Mummy?!" Adelaide asked in vain to the distraught woman now running away in search of her husband._

 _Suddenly, little Adelaide became quite fearful that Alex would get in big trouble and decided she should probably go get him before her mother got really cross and did something horrible, like give him a time out._

 _Without even thinking Adelaide scrunched her eyes closed and magically opened the locked door, just like Alexander had done, and started to run as fast as she could through the tree covered path, hollering, "ALEX! ALEXANDER YOU NEED TO COME BACK!" Little pale-blonde pigtails bouncing around wildly. "ALEX COME BACK!"_

 _That's when she heard a low growl from somewhere in the distance._

The next thing Adelaide knew, she was being shaken awake from the new memor— _dream_ , eyes fluttering open to a compartment of worried Marauders. It was at this moment that she realized her breath was heavy, as if she'd actually been running. "Why— are you—all staring —at me? It's—creepy." she muttered as she tried to catch her breath.

The boys shared a look. "You kicked Moony in your sleep, Ads." James said softly. "You looked like you were having a seizure or something..."

Adelaide looked horrified. "Oh, Moony I'm so sorry!" she said, digging through her handbag and pulling out a rather large chocolate bar. "Here!"

Remus looked between her and the abnormally large chocolate bar shoved in his face. Honestly, he would have found the gesture a little funny if she wasn't so obviously upset. "It's okay, Addy... why don't you eat it?"

"No! Take it!" she insisted pushing it closer to his face. "I kicked you when you didn't feel good and woke you up..." she muttered miserably.

"Addy... it's okay. Really." Remus said taking the candy from her hands, now concerned with her disproportionate amount of remorse. "We were just worried..."

Adelaide looked to the boys who indeed looked worried, Sirius more so than the others, but nothing was new about that. "Oh... Well, don't be. I'm fine." The boys looked unconvinced. "Really! I'm okay! It was just a weird dream!" she said, faking a laugh of lightheartedness that everyone but Sirius accepted as genuine.

"You're not fine." Sirius whispered in her ear as James and Peter began a game of Exploding snap and Remus resumed his own nap. "What did you dream about?" he asked.

The very last thing Adelaide wanted to talk about at that time was the fact that she was recovering memories that should have been obliviated out of her. "J-just my mum... same as always..." she said, hoping for once he would fall for her lie. But of course, he didn't.

"No, it wasn't. What was it, Ads?" he asked again, brows knitted together in worry. During their conversations through the mirror over break he could tell that there was something bothering her, but he just couldn't understand what it could be. And since when did she lie about her dreams to him? He thought she knew that he, of all people, could empathize the most with her nightmares.

Adelaide shut her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to calm herself, knowing he wouldn't let this go unless she stopped lying to him. "I just don't want to talk about it." she said firmly. "Please just leave it alone."

"But we tell each other everything." he said, looking almost hurt, which nearly broke Adelaide's resolve and her heart.

"I-I just— I'm not ready to talk about it yet." she said honestly, eyes fixed down at her hands.

Sirius cupped her face with his hands and leaned forward to give her a little kiss on the bridge of her nose. "Well, I'll be here for you when you are." he said with a sweet smile, grey eyes soft and making Adelaide's stomach erupt in butterflies the size of armadillos.

"Ugh... go be gross and sappy someplace else..." James moaned, throwing vomit flavored jelly beans at them.

* * *

For the next hour or so, James and Peter contented themselves with round after round of exploding snap, Remus tried to stay awake and watch (and keep James from gloating too much), and Adelaide attempted to draw a sketch of the weird plant, while Sirius was clingy and annoying in his attempts to win over her attention from said handsy plant.

"Why can't you draw _me_?" the curly headed boy whined, leaning on her shoulder and playing with her hair.

Adelaide didn't even spare him a glance. "Because I'm drawing _her_ right now. I have a charm I want to try out when I'm done that will make the tentacles move on the page."

"But I'm _soooo_ much better looking than that stupid plant—"

"HA! I won!" James said, obnoxiously throwing the exploding snap cards around like confetti and pointing in Peter's face.

Peter looked a little put out over his losing streak. "You know, you really don't have to scream it..."

"Oh lighten up Wormy!" James chuckled. "Moony! You want to play the next round?"

Remus shrugged from where he was leaning against the compartment wall by the window, munching on Adelaide's chocolate with his eyes half closed.

" _I'll_ play!" Sirius said dramatically sitting up straight. "Since _Addy_ refuses to acknowledge my existence—"

"I acknowledged your existence, I just found it irritating..." Adelaide said casually, still not looking up from her drawing.

"She has a point..." Remus nodded.

Sirius gasped, bringing his hands over his heart. "Whose side are you on, Lupin?"

Remus smirked lazily, and took a long breath to answer just as they were joined by Marlene McKinnon once more.

The blonde girl swung open the compartment door making Adelaide jump slightly.

"Twice in one day! If I didn't know any better, I'd say you enjoy our company McKinnon!" James said annoyingly.

"Addy. We need to talk. Right now." Marlene huffed, obviously upset.

Adelaide blinked, mildly concerned that she was only pulling her away to hex her for some reason. "Erm... what's wrong?" she asked, trying to keep from having to leave the compartment… you know, just in case.

Marlene looked to the boys and Adelaide honestly thought she wouldn't say anything. If her friendship with the girl had taught her anything, it was that Marlene was a very private person. Yet, to her great surprise, Marlene invited herself into the compartment, moving Bathsheba the Flitterbloom out of the empty seat and into Peter's hands (much to his horror), sitting down across from the girl holding a sketchbook.

"So, I went to tell him." Marlene stated to Adelaide, confusing the boys whom she was ignoring.

Adelaide waited for her to say more... but she didn't. _"And?"_

" _And_ I— well I waited a little while so I could formulate my speech… but then I went to go look for him."

Again, Marlene didn't say anything else. Adelaide blinked, confused on where this was going. "Okay, well did you find him?"

"Oh I found him alright! I found him making out with that stupid ninny Wendy Slinkhard!" she said, flailing her hands in the air, nearly whacking Peter in the face. "He didn't even have the decency to be embarrassed either! He said, 'Sup Marls,' then casually went back to playing tonsil hockey with that horrible girl!"

"THAT SCOUNDREL!" James exclaimed at the same time Adelaide gasped, bringing her hands to her mouth saying, "Oh no!" and Sirius wondered out loud what 'Tonsil Hockey' was.

Remus looked confused. "Pardon me, but who is this alleged scoundrel?"

"Amos. Eldritch. Diggory." Marlene growled in contempt, eyes narrow and set on nothing in particular. "That no good steaming pile of handsome hufflepuff shite..."

Peter was so utterly furious that someone would upset his precious Marlene that he didn't even notice the plant tentacle snaking its way around his arm. "Don't worry Marlene. We'll prank him for you."

Marlene's gaze flickered to the plump boy, a little startled, as if she just realized he was there.

"Addy! You need to do the bird thing to him!" Sirius grinned mischievously.

Adelaide furrowed her brows. "You want me to turn him into a duck?"

"No, the other one— I don't want that lowlife impersonating my Wallace."

"Pete's right. We'll take care of him, don't worry Marls." James said in determination, scooting up his glasses, eyes alight with mischief.

"Are you okay though?" Adelaide asked the honey blonde gently. She knew that it was a big deal for Marlene to finally admit to herself that she had feelings for the boy she snogged all last semester, and couldn't imagine going to tell Sirius how she really felt only to find him making out with Lydia Green or something. "If— If that happened to me... I'd be just a mess..."

"Not going to happen to you, Addy. Not ever." Sirius said softly in her ear with more tenderness and sincerity than Marlene had ever witnessed from the boy. It only made her realize how much more of a git Amos really was.

"I'm just pissed off." Marlene said shortly. "And as much as I appreciate the sentiment, you don't need to worry about pranking him... I can make him suffer in other ways..." she smirked evilly.

Adelaide wasn't sure what all those other ways would entail, but it wasn't the first time she wondered why Marlene wasn't a Slytherin. "If you say so…"

* * *

Once they arrived back at the school, it was already sunset, and Remus could hardly walk, relying heavily on James and Sirius for support as he got in and out of the carriages.

"Oh no… I forgot that was tonight…" Lily said discreetly to Adelaide upon witnessing the frail boy hobble past the great hall and toward the infirmary flanked by the two boys.

"Yeah, he's been miserable all day…" Adelaide said glumly. "Usually he can take it easy, but with the train ride and all… he couldn't exactly stay home."

"No, I suppose not…" Lily said sadly as they took their seats at dinner. "So, did you talk to Marlene?"

Adelaide sighed, resting her head on her hand, elbow on the table. "I did."

"Did she tell you about Amos?"

"Oh, she told me _everything_."

Lily nodded unsurprised. "She said your advice really helped… well until everything hit the fan at least." she shrugged, taking a bite of her fish.

Adelaide poked some broccoli around on her plate with her fork. "I literally didn't even say anything! I don't get why she even told me— You two are way closer."

Lily shrugged, unfazed. "I think she trusts your opinion more when it comes to that stuff since you're actually in a relationship."

"She shouldn't. It's a fluke that we're even together—"

Lily lifted her fork and pointed it at Adelaide, bright green eyes narrowed. "You take that back Adelaide Fawley! I may find Sirius arrogant and annoying most of the time, but you two are literally made for each other!"

"I don't know whether to be offended by that..." Adelaide said through a mouthful of a dinner roll, ignoring the little voice in her head that was saying to mind her manners.

Lily smirked slightly. "So how are things with you two love birds? I went to look for you on the train and saw you all snuggled up together."

Adelaide felt her face heat up slightly and took a drink of her pumpkin juice. "We're good." she said in a voice that didn't sound like her own.

Lily raised an eyebrow. "Good?"

"Yeah, we're fine." she said awkwardly.

"Adelaide, what aren't you telling me?" Lily said in suspicion.

Adelaide made the strange face she made when she was trying very hard to put something into words, then looked around to see if the boy in question was in the hall. He was not. "Okay, well he said something to me over the break…"

"I didn't think you saw each other over the break?"

"Not in person… but we have these enchanted mirrors…" she whispered, glancing around nervously for eavesdroppers. She then explained all about how his parents hurt him and how Regulus stole the mirror back so she could help him handle Sirius on Painkiller potions.

"Merlin, you were pretty awful on those things too." Lily sniggered. "You kept saying how much you loved my hair."

Adelaide smiled. "I do love your hair! Mine looks like it got bleached by accident… anyway, that's not the point." she said pulling herself closer to the red head. "When he was all loopy he… well he— he um… he said he loved me… then fell asleep."

Lily looked like she was waiting for Adelaide to say more than the obvious. "Okay, and?"

Adelaide looked at her incredulously. " _And_ he said he loved me, then never really brought it up again! He obviously didn't mean it but—"

"It amazes me how someone so brilliant can miss something so obvious." Lily lamented. "Addy, he's head over heels for you!"

"Stop it, Lily…"

"No! I'm being honest!" Lily insisted. "I doubt he could deal with half the annoying stuff you do if he didn't love you." she smirked.

"Again, should I be offended?"

Lily ignored her comment. "I think you should just confront him about it." she said casually, taking another bite of her fish.

"Not happening." Adelaide said firmly. "Let's talk about something else… What was with you wishing James a Happy Christmas at the train?" she smirked, watching in satisfaction as the green eyed witch's face turned red.

"I was just being polite… His mother was right there—"

"Oh I know, she gave him a hard time for it— it was hilarious!"

Lily looked mildly horrified.

"Come on, Lils… are you ever going to give him a chan—"

Adelaide's words were cut off the the presence of a certain gangly bespectacled boy with messy hair, only his face was quite serious at the moment, no hint of a grin to be found. "Ads, um… We're about to go…"

Adelaide nodded and gave an apologetic look to Lily. "It's fine… You just go and I'll see you all later." the red head said discreetly.

* * *

The night was cold, with stars obscured by the cloudy sky above, trees groaning and creaking in the gusty winds as the four Marauders shuffled out the castle, through the grounds toward the whomping willow under the cover of the invisibility cloak.

It was a quiet walk, unlike most. With Remus as sick as he was, they could tell this was going to be a particularly rough moon. Adelaide however, felt more on edge and nervous than the rest, though she couldn't understand why. She had done this countless times and had never been this anxious about keeping her werewolf friend entertained before.

Soon the moon began to rise higher into the sky as the Marauders hid in a dusty corner of the dilapidated shack, waiting for Remus get in position to complete his transformation. Adelaide felt her breath become heavier and heavier, heart beating erratically, senses in overdrive, jumping at the smallest sound.

Sirius could tell something was wrong. "Addy, if you need to sit this one out, no one would blame you—"

"I'm not sitting this out!" she snapped, transforming herself into Tufts so there would be no further discussion.

The sound of bones breaking and reordering themselves back together and the cries of her best friend in pain rang loudly in Adelaide's refined cat hearing. For a moment, her heartbreak for the boy and the need to comfort him overwhelmed all the odd anxiety she was facing— but only for a moment.

As soon as Moony let out his first howl, spurring the other members of the Marauders Menagerie to run to his aid, Adelaide froze in fear, fur standing straight up on her back. Padfoot ran back towards her and eventually was able to coax her into movement, padding their way toward the wolf romping around playfully with the others.

However, the moment Adelaide set eyes on the wolf, images began to flash in her mind… memories of another wolf coming to the forefront…

 _"ALEX COME BACK!" little Adelaide screamed, running through the tree covered path toward her brother._

 _That's when she heard a low growl from somewhere in the distance._

 _"A-Alex?" she said nervously, looking around._

 _"Laidy!" the boy yelled in the distance. He said something else that Adelaide couldn't quite make out, prompting her to run even faster toward him._

 _"Alexander! A-Alex you have to come back to the house!" she yelled, growing more and more frightened, as if something was watching her every move. "A-Alex come back! I-I'm scared!" she said desperately. "P-please Alex!"_

 _"LAIDY! RUN!" Alex yelled, zooming towards her from the opposite direction. "LAIDY YOU NEED TO GO BACK HOME! RUN!"_

 _Adelaide didn't understand what was going on. "Why? Alex come with me!"_

 _Alexander came limping toward her looking absolutely terrified, but not for himself. "Let's go!" he said, grabbing her hand and dragging her toward the house as fast as he could._

 _"Alex you're bleeding!" Adelaide said in shock. "What happened to—"_

 _Her words were cut off by a vicious snarl from right behind her. Alexander ran harder, screaming "MUM! DAD! HELP US!" as he did so. But he was running too fast for little four year old Adelaide to keep up._

 _Adelaide fell ungracefully onto the ground and shrieked in terror as she was pinned to down by a large, grey wolf with blue eyes that seemed almost human. The wolf leaned in toward her arm teeth bared, and she swore she saw it smile._

 _"GET AWAY FROM MY LITTLE SISTER YOU STUPID WOLF!" Alexander screamed fiercely, throwing a bunch of big rocks at him._

 _Adelaide watched in terror as the wolf lifted its eyes toward the boy and got clunked in the head by one particularly large rock. The wolf snarled and launched after the boy who ran the other direction, sending lights and sparks with his hands right into the wolf's line of sight, blinding it._

 _"Laidy! Go back to the house!" Alexander urged, helping her up with one hand, eyes fixed on the confused werewolf blinded temporarily by his magical lights._

 _Adelaide was hysterical and couldn't manage to do anything but cry._

 _In a last ditch effort, Alexander pulled her onto his back and tried to outrun the wolf before it realized what was going on. Adelaide held on for dear life, wishing her parents were there to save them._

 _A long howl rang out and Adelaide could hear the thudding of the wolf's paws as it caught up with them, and the screams of her mother and father trying to find them only a little ways down the path, just out of sight._

 _Another snarl sounded from behind and suddenly Alexander cried out in pain and sent both of them falling to the ground. Adelaide, who hit her head on a nearby rock, watched in horror as the wolf leaned over her brother and bit and ripped through his flesh. "LAIDY RUN!" he screamed through his cries of agony._

 _"NO!" she cried. "STOP IT! BAD WOLF! YOU'RE HURTING HIM!" she sobbed, trying to pick up the rock and throw it at the wolf like her brother had done, hitting it right on the side of the head._

 _The wolf paused to look at her, then continued to bite and scratch her bloodied, and now silent brother over and over again._

 _She threw anything and everything she could find at the wolf and finally pulled its tufted tail in a last ditch effort. This strategy, as it turns out, was successful. The wolf turned away from the bleeding boy and instead set its sights on a new victim, pinning her to the ground once more, one of her pale-blonde pigtails stuck under its gigantic muddy paw._

 _It's hot breath wafted in her face ominously as it growled, and she could see the blood and drool dripping down the sides of its mouth. She shut her eyes tight as she sobbed so she wouldn't have to watch it attack her the way it attacked her brother._

 _Only the wolf didn't bite her._

 _It did, however, nearly suffocate her._

 _A bright light flashed behind her eyelids and suddenly, the wolf ,who was standing over her, was now laying on top of her, unconscious._

 _She stayed there stuck and struggling to get free for several seconds, until the wolf was finally lifted off of her by her father. She gasped for breath as she was lifted up into his arms and watched though teary eyes as her mother picked her brother off the ground._

 _She felt the horrible sensation of being squeezed through a tube as they apparated to the hospital. She recognized it as the place her parents brought her to when she broke her arm falling out of a tree a few months prior._

 _"A-Alexander!" Adelaide cried seeing him laying in her mothers arms— bloody and body torn to shreds in a way that nearly made her sick. "A-Alex t-talk to m-me!" she sobbed. While was being whisked away, a small stuffed cat fell out of his lifeless hand onto the hospital floor. "ALEXANDER!" she shrieked as her father tried to console her. "Daddy! W-what's wrong with h-him?!"_

 _Her father held her tighter, trying to turn her away from the boy. "Shhh… It's going to be okay, sweetie." he hushed, as she sobbed into his chest._

Adelaide's eyes fluttered open and she realized she was crying into someone's chest… and was also human?

"W-what— where are— M-moony— I d-don't underst-stand—" she said incoherently through her sobs, pulling herself up and realizing she was now in the boys' dorm with Sirius, light of the full moon shining in through the window.

"Shh… Moony's fine. Everyone's fine, love." he said, smoothing her hair. "Prongs and Wormy are still with him." Sirius said, handing her a box of tissues. "You passed out as Tufts and I brought you here..."

It was at this moment that the full weight of what she saw in the memory finally set in and she became even more hysterical right before Sirius's eyes. "I-I s-s-saw A-alexander! It w-was all m-my f-fault!"


	86. Chapter 86

**Chapter 86- I Love Your Nose**

It was early morning, before James and Peter returned from their moonlight escapades with Remus, and Sirius was seated atop his bed with a pillow rested in his lap. "Okay, let me get this straight..." he said, running his hands through his hair, _yet again_. "You've been having dreams—"

"I told you they aren't dreams!" Adelaide snapped, eyes still puffy and bloodshot from crying for a majority of the night.

"Okay! Okay! Not dreams! You've been having... erm... _memories_ in a dream-like fashion..." Sirius said slowly, waiting to see if his still highly emotional girlfriend bit his head off again.

"I suppose that's one way to put it..."

"And one of these memory- _things_ made you pass out tonight... and you saw your brother being—" Sirius cut him self short when he saw the look of pain on Adelaide's face. "Well... You know..." he said awkwardly. There was really no need to make her recount those gut wrenching events again. "But Addy, I still don't get how this is even possible! You were obliviated! Memories don't just come back after something like that! It's-it's _impossible_!"

Adelaide groaned loudly as she fell backward onto Sirius's pillow. "Torture can bring memories back sometimes..." she said in frustration. "...granted, it usually leaves you insane—"

"Well no worries there..." Sirius smirked. "You were already completely mental to begin with— OW!" he exclaimed as Adelaide chucked a tissue box at his annoyingly handsome face.

"This isn't funny!" she huffed, sitting up on her elbows.

Sirius rubbed the spot where she hit him with the box. "Alright, alright." he said without a smile. "I promise I am taking this very _Siriusly_ — OUCH!"

"Padfoot! I swear— don't think I won't pelt you with those infernal birds just because we're dating!"

Sirius gulped. He really hated those birds. "Okay... So, new topic..." he said nervously, backing away slightly. "Can you please explain to me why you kept saying it was all your fault? I just— I find that really hard to believe, Addy..."

Adelaide's heart sank as she sat up to sit cross legged across from him, a fluffy pillow clutched to her chest. "I— I left Mr. Fluff..." Sirius raised an eyebrow. "It was a stuffed animal cat—don't blame me for the name, I was four!"

"No judgment!" he said, putting his hands up in defense. Honestly, he found the name quite endearing.

"Anyway... I-I left the cat in the garden and he said he would get it for me after dinner... but when he did... well... that's when— when it happened..." she said, lip quivering and a few traitorous tears tumbling down her cheeks. "Th-then at Saint Mungo's... the-the cat just fell on the floor... It was all b-because of m-me! He wouldn't have b-been out there if it wasn't for m-me!"

Sirius instantly scooted over toward her, cupped her face in his hands and gently wiped away her tears with his thumbs. "Addy, look at me..." His silvery grey eyes bore into her own with an almost startling amount of intensity. "It wasn't your fault." he said softly and slowly.

Adelaide choked back another sob. "B-but—"

"No Addy, it wasn't your fault. You had no way of knowing what would happen... you were just a little kid..." he said tenderly, wiping away another tear. "You couldn't have known, Addykins... it wasn't your fault."

Adelaide didn't answer, but he could tell that deep down she knew he was right, and that was enough for him. Slowly, he leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss to the bridge of her nose, something Adelaide noticed him doing a lot of lately, and found very sweet.

Seeing that she was not about to breakout into hysterics again, Sirius finally let her go, but still stayed quite close. After a moment or two of contented silence, a small delicate hand reached out to hold his, and Sirius felt his stomach flip as it usually did when she held his hand.

"Thank you..." Adelaide said quietly, softly tracing shapes into his wrist with her thumb, unknowingly sending more and more butterflies to his stomach with every invisible circle and square she drew against his skin. "For believing me... and for dealing with me being a total nut case... I know I'm a lot to handle..."

"Yeah, you are." he said casually. "But, so am I..." he smirked just slightly, squeezing her hand.

Adelaide looked up and gave him a tight lipped smile. "Really though... I just want you to know that I appreciate it..."

"You're welcome... but it's really not a big deal." he said honestly. "I'll always be here for you, Addykins... I'd do anything for you." Sirius looked into her big green eyes and felt his stomach flip once more. Three little words burned at the tip of his tongue, begging to be uttered. A voice in the back of his mind (that sounded an awful lot like James) was screaming for him to just tell her how he felt... but he couldn't say _that_ again, not after how horribly he screwed it up last time... Of course, he did have a valid excuse with the whole painkiller potions thing, but it still sort of stung that she didn't say it back... So, in order to avoid another potentially awkward confession he said, "It also helps that you're a pretty crier..."

Adelaide let out a short laugh. "Well that's a new one."

Sirius smiled. "It's true! I dunno how you even manage it— must be the Veela blood—"

"For the last time! I'm not a damn Veela!" Adelaide huffed, thwacking him playfully on the arm, secretly thankful that he lightened the mood.

Sirius pretended to be quite wounded by her innocent thwack. "Ouch, Fawley! So violent!"

Adelaide rolled her eyes. "I think you'll live."

"I dunno... I think you ought to kiss it better... you know, just in case." he pretend pouted.

"You're so needy..." she moaned, leaning to give a swift peck to his bicep then pulling away, feeling like an idiot.

"You missed." he smirked.

Adelaide's cheeks heated up and her stomach fluttered. "Did I?" she said with an innocent smile.

Sirius leaned closer so that his warm breath wafted upon her face. "Mhmm..."

Adelaide leaned in to close the distance between them, lips nearly brushing his, only to finally land on his cheek where she gave him a simple peck. "Better?" she asked cheekily, leaning back.

Sirius pouted for real this time. "You still missed."

A smug smile tugged at Adelaide's lips. "Whoops... Why don't I try that again?" she said, leaning closer once more, breath mingling with his, lips just brushing past his on their way to kiss the other cheek.

Sirius let out a little whine, clearly annoyed that she was making this difficult. "You missed again." he said more seriously this time, brows furrowed slightly.

Adelaide found his frustration highly amusing, but not quite as amusing as it would be to snog him, and decided it was best to put the poor boy out of his misery. "Well then maybe you should give it a go." she said slyly.

Something flashed in Sirius's eyes as he quickly moved his hand to rest on the side of her face, sliding toward her neck to bring her closer, other hand still in hers. He tilted his head just so, watching as Adelaide's eyes fluttered closed in anticipation... then kissed her cheek and smirked.

Adelaide made a little sound of impatience and moved one hand to his collar, pulling him toward her and practically melting as their lips finally met. His warm lips moved against hers and he felt as she smiled against the kiss, one hand pulling him closer by the neck and fingers tangling themselves into his soft curls with the other, tugging ever so slightly... and unknowingly driving him _crazy_ when her teeth grazed his lower lip.

His mouth left hers and trailed down her jaw to her neck to leave little kisses in a spot just below her ear, feeling oddly satisfied when her breath hitched. He took his time as he made his way back to her lips, hands roaming over her back and down to her hips as Adelaide's moved to his chest and shoulders. Once again their lips moved together, but this time with desperation and impatience, as if to convey their unspoken feelings of mutual adoration.

More than ever Sirius just wanted to blurt out how much he loved her, and nearly did when she began kissing his neck and collarbone. After a moment of that, he pulled her toward him again, hoping that by occupying his mouth he would keep himself from saying things he shouldn't.

When Adelaide finally pulled away, breathlessly resting her forehead against his, he was nearly overwhelmed by how pretty she looked with her flushed cheeks and swollen lips. "You're—You're so beautiful..." he said softly, tucking her hair behind her ears with a goofy grin, noticing her face turn a darker shade of red as she smiled back.

"So are you..." she giggled, pulling away slightly looking down to her fiddling hands.

Sirius let out a small bark like laugh and kissed the bridge of her nose.

Adelaide peered up at him curiously. "Why do you keep doing that?"

"Doing what?"

"Kissing my nose." she answered, looking up at him with big searching eyes.

Sirius smiled and the words left his mouth without a second thought. "Because I love you—erm y-your nose. I love your nose." he ended awkwardly in a panic, internally cursing his stupid big mouth. Her _nose?_ he thought to himself. How much more stupid could he have sounded?!

Adelaide was both a little surprised and highly amused by his terrible save.

"You love my nose?" she asked with a small chuckle.

"Y-yes. It's a very nice nose." Sirius stated quickly, heart racing, wondering what could have possessed him to say something so insanely idiotic. There was no way she would believe a horrible lie like that. "Better than nice— lovely! The best nose I've ever seen... um..."

Adelaide waited a moment and internally deliberated whether or not she should call him out on his terrible lie... that's when a horrible thought came to mind— the same horrible thought that came to mind the last time he said he loved her over the mirror—What if he really didn't mean to say it? What if she made him feel super awkward by calling him out on _accidentally_ saying he loved her when he didn't mean it? She didn't want to make him feel more awkward than he probably already felt for blurting out something like that... So, she decided that she ought to just go along as if she believed him in order to avoid any potentially awkward moments.

But deep down it wasn't the fear of making things awkward that kept Adelaide from speaking up, it was the deeply (though unconsciously) held belief she had that she was in someway unloveable— defective... Deep down she had a hard time believing that someone could actually love her... even if that someone was Sirius.

"Well... You have a nice nose too." she said with a small smile giving a small kiss to his 'nice nose'. Sirius let out a breath he didn't know he was holding then felt his heart sink as she glanced at his alarm-clock and moved to get off the bed. "Ah, I should really get going..." she sighed. "it's nearly sun up— we have classes soon and its probably better if I get at least _some_ sleep—"

Adelaide's breath caught in her throat as she ended her sentence abruptly. She'd been so wrapped up in her time with Sirius, that she nearly forgot about the horrible nightmares and flashbacks that kept her from sleeping in the first place.

Sirius held her hand and pulled her back toward him. "Why don't you try to sleep here?" he said softly, tucking her hair behind her ear. Adelaide nodded and Sirius moved to look under his bed. "Alright, I'll get the sleeping bag and you take the b—"

"No!" she gasped, pulling him back. "I-I don't really want to be alone..." she said in a small voice. The independent part within her internally groaned at those words, but they were true. She didn't want to wake up from some horrific dream all alone.

"I'll be right here, Addy!" he said with a chuckle, pointing at the floor right beside them.

Adelaide looked at the place where he pointed, then back up to him with big pleading eyes, willing him to change his mind. "Please?"

Sirius seemed to think this over for a moment... "Oh, fine..." he sighed. "But try not to drool on me..." he laughed as Adelaide grinned. A moment later Sirius shifted into the black, long haired German Shepard and licked her face, big bushy tail wagging frantically.

"Ack! Down boy!" she laughed.

Adelaide finally curled up in Sirius's fluffy bed, snuggling beside the big dog at her side which radiated warmth like a big German Shepherd sized heater, and drifted asleep... and for the first time in what felt like ages... it was a dreamless one.

* * *

"Now, remember that your essays over the properties of Bubotuber Pus are due Friday!" Professor Sprout called as Adelaide, Sirius, and a very tired James and Peter filed out of the greenhouses that morning.

James yawned loudly. "Are you _sure_ you're okay, Ads?" he asked for literally the tenth time in the span of two class periods.

"Yes, James..." Adelaide sighed.

James leaned a little closer to whisper to her. "Listen Ads, I watched my grandma pass away a few summers back and cried for a week straight... It's really okay if you need some time... we can come up with a good cover for you..."

Adelaide was always astounded by James's kindness, and nearly took him up on his offer... Truthfully, she was just barely making it through classes. But she was an expert at controlling her feelings when she was determined enough, and was able to block out the crushing grief of missing her brother enough to function—There was no need to worry the girls, or get boring detention by skipping class. "Thank you, but I-I'm fine, James. I promise." she whispered back.

Behind them, Peter's face squished itself into a look of sleepy confusion from where he walked beside Sirius. "I still don't get it... I thought she saw the future...not the past—"

"Who sees the future?" chirped a rather chipper Mary McDonald, popping up from out of no where, making Sirius jump slightly.

"Ad—" Sirius instantly clamped a hand on Peter's mouth. He was a terrible secret keeper under the best of circumstances. Add in a severe lack of sleep from dealing with Loony Moony, and he was a loose cannon. Peter's eyes grew wide when he realized Mary wasn't supposed to know that particular tidbit of information about Adelaide. "Oops..." he mumbled as Sirius let him go.

Adelaide and James looked behind to the pudgy boy in alarm. Mary gave them a curious look. "Really, who were you talking about?"

"No one!" James said quickly. "Peter's just delirious from last night..." he chuckled awkwardly. "Come on, mates! Better hurry up, don't want to miss muggle studies! We're learning to use the wavemicro today!" he said hurriedly, trying to get away from the snoopy brown haired girl before Peter said anything else.

"It's a _microwave_ , Potter..." Lily said, walking up toward them to snag Adelaide for Arithmancy.

James stared at Lily with a lazy smile and far away eyes for a moment, before smirking and ruffling up the back of his hair, giving it a windswept look. "Hey, Evans! You're looking simply radiant this morning, did you do something different with your hair?"

Lily flipped her perfectly normal hair, and looped her arm in Adelaide's to tug her toward class, ignoring James. "Come on, Ads..."

"Wait for me!" Sirius yelped, throwing up a hand to stop them as he tried to move past James and Peter.

Lily gritted her teeth. She tolerated him to a certain extent, but she was sick and tired of him walking Adelaide to class. It was one of the only times she really had to talk to her blonde best friend without other people around and she wanted to finish catching up on what happened over break. "No, Black. I need to chat with Addy here alone today—"

"—But I—I have her books..." he said pitifully, with big, heartbreaking, grey puppy dog eyes, lifting up her books in one hand. "And her scarf..." he said, lifting up a scarlet and gold knitted scarf in the other.

Adelaide peered back at him with a dopey look of adoration that Lily always saw her give the curly headed idiot. "Awe, thanks! I was looking for that!"

"You left it in my room... I thought you'd get cold." he smiled back with an equally dopey look that made Lily want to roll her eyes. How could Adelaide not see how smitten he was?

Adelaide looked over to Lily with pitiful eyes. "Can't he come with us, Lils? It'll be forever before I see him again!"

"You'll literally see each other right after class!" Lily said incredulously.

James swooped in quite close beside Lily, sending a slight shiver down her spine when he leaned to whisper into her ear. "They've been clingy all day... might be best to just let them go..."

Lily groaned in annoyance rolling her eyes. "Fine. The mutt can come with us." she said through her teeth.

Not a moment later, Adelaide jumped onto Sirius's back as he gave her a piggy back ride to class, effectively annoying Lily with their clinginess. "Ugh!" she muttered under her breath as they swapped kisses on the cheek.

"I told you. Clingier than spellotape..." James said with a look of slight disgust at the two.

"Isn't your class the other direction?" Lily asked, looking back at the others who were trotting off to muggle studies without him.

James shrugged. "Didn't seem right to make you walk to class alone with the love birds."

Lily snorted slightly at his choice of words, but couldn't deny that it was rather nice to have a distraction from Adelaide and Sirius... even if it was Potter. "So, are you ever going to explain what happened last night?" she said discreetly, clutching her books a little tighter. Lily, who always met up with the Marauders after the full moon in order to patch them up, knew that Adelaide and Sirius sat last evening out... But James wouldn't say much beyond the fact that Adelaide passed out. "She seems perfectly fine to me..."

"She's acting." James said seriously. "She's not fine."

Lily was a little taken aback by his tone... he seemed worried, and had no hint of mischief in his hazel eyes. "What— Why? What happened? Is she hurt?"

"She's okay physically, but..." James said, glancing down at the beautiful red head beside him, and losing his focus for a moment when he saw her adorable freckles... had they always been there?

"James?"

"Sorry... um... She had a rough time over break— family stuff." he said cryptically. Adelaide said she didn't want the girls to know about her brother, which he respected, but she never said anything about the stuff with her mum... and if she was having nightmares again, Lily really should know. She was the one who helped her the most the last time this happened.

Lily's brows scrunched together slightly, "You mean her mum?" she asked, hoping she was wrong in her assumption. "She didn't— she didn't hurt her again did she?" Lily hissed, green eyes dewy just at the thought.

James gave a curt nod. "But I really don't think I was supposed to tell you, Lils—I just thought you should know—" he said quickly. "She's been having the nightmares again and I just thought you could look out for her when she's not with us..."

"Of course I'll look out for her! Ugh! I can't believe someone could do that to their child!" she huffed in anger. "Surely someone at the Ministry could do _something—"_

"Her dad runs the biggest department at the ministry... Do you really think he'd let anyone know what happened?" James whispered, eyeing Adelaide resting her head on Sirius's shoulder up ahead of them, her cheerful mask falling away for a second to reveal a distant look of sadness. "But pads did say he was sort of helpful... shipped her mum out of the country right after it happened..."

"Still... It's an abusive home, James... It's not right..." Lily muttered, frustrated at the injustice of it all. "Why couldn't she stay with Mary? She's pureblood! Maybe if she—"

"Mary's family are blood-traitors, same as mine." James said sadly.

Lily pursed her lips as Sirius let out a loud bark-like laugh at something Adelaide said. "Well what about, Black? Their parents are friends right?"

James let out a laugh at the ridiculousness of her statement, thinking it had to be a joke. A pair of bright green eyes glared back at him. "Dammit, you weren't joking..."

"Why on earth would I joke about Adelaide's safety!?" Lily huffed.

James sighed. "Well...Let's just say that if you knew what all Sirius went through when he was home, you would never even think of sending Addy there."

"What do you m—"

"Oi! Lils! If that idiot's bothering you, just let me know and I'll hex him for you!" Adelaide called out with a smirk, sniggering with Sirius.

"I'm perfectly capable of hexing him myself, but thank you, Adelaide." Lily called back without hesitation.

"What are you going to do, hit him with the ol' _Wingardium Leviosa_ again?!" Sirius teased. It was a well known fact that Lily Evans did not hex people... the worst she had ever managed was a mildly bothersome jinx on James one time when he dumped flowers on her head. "Or maybe one of those dreadful—Ouch!" Adelaide thwacked Sirius on the arm and whispered something in his ear. "Sorry, Evans." he muttered, continuing their walk to class.

"She has him wrapped around her little finger, doesn't she..." Lily smirked to James.

James got a little lost looking at Lily's adorable freckles again, but quickly recovered. "Oh... erm... yeah." he chuckled, messing up the back of his hair. "So, how was your holiday?" he asked.

Lily shot him a quizzical look. "Erm... It was fine..."

"Go anywhere?" he asked.

"Um… Yes, actually. I went down to Australia with my parents..." she said, tucking her hair behind her ear. She was okay talking to James about Adelaide, but when the conversation moved to herself, she always sort of clammed up— but it was _not_ because she fancied him... nope that was most certainly _not_ the reason. "I got horribly sunburnt on the beach though." she chuckled.

"I knew it! I knew they were new!" James said a little aggressively, pointing at her face.

Lily looked genuinely concerned for his sanity. "Excuse me?"

"The freckles! You didn't have all those freckles before! I thought I just didn't notice them before, but their new!" he grinned, rather pleased with himself.

"Um... Yes... it happens... Red head complexion and all that..." she said awkwardly, scooting a little further away from him. "You know, you and Sirius should probably head back if you want to make it to your own class in time..." she said within earshot of Sirius, giving a little look of desperation to Adelaide.

"Nah, we don't mind being a little lat— Ow!" Sirius's words were cut off by Adelaide thwacking him _again_ and muttering in his ear. "Oh... yeah... we should probably go now, Prongs!" Sirius said as Adelaide slipped down off his back. "I'm really excited about this Micromaze thing and want to get good seats!"

"It's a _wavemicro_ , Padfoot! Geez!" James said, rolling his eyes at his idiot friend.

"You mean a microwave?" Lily said with a small smile.

James looked confused for a moment. "No, its a— shit... it is a microwave..."

"So no mazes?" Sirius pouted.

Lily let out a short laugh, then covered her mouth. "No mazes."

Sirius looked quite disappointed at this, but with one swift kiss goodbye from Adelaide, he was back to his normal cheerful self, kissing her on the nose before he ran off with James.

"Just out of curiosity... what _is_ a microwave?" Adelaide asked as they walked the last hallway to class.

Lily laughed, then realized Adelaide genuinely didn't know. "Oh... um... It's like a small oven you can cook food in really quickly."

Adelaide nodded, taking in this new information. "And what about a _television_?"

"Oh, erm... Well its sort of um...like having a little movie theater in your house"

"And what's a movie theatre?"

Lily sighed, realizing that Adelaide's curiosity with the muggle world would likely have her answering these sorts of questions for the rest of her life—or at least until lunch time.

* * *

The rest of the week passed by as well as it could for Adelaide. She still awoke to those awful nightmares each night, but thanks to some muffling charms she was able to keep from waking up everyone in her dorm with her screaming.

Each day at class she painted on a smile and felt relatively normal as long as Sirius was around. As long as she kept busy, she could manage to keep the horrible images out of her head. However, when she was alone with her thoughts... that's when her mind drifted back to the horrific images she saw that first night back... of Alexander laying lifeless and covered in blood—

"... guinea-pig, Miss Fawley? ...Miss Fawley?" said the stern voice of Professor McGonagall, pulling her out of her thoughts. It wasn't until now that she realized Sirius had been nudging her as well.

"Um... sorry." Adelaide muttered. "What was the question?"

"I asked for you to give me the correct transfiguration formula for turning a guinea-fowl into a guinea-pig." the professor repeated just before giving a stern look to shut up the Ravenclaw girls sniggering in the front of the classroom.

"Oh. Um..." Adelaide had absolutely no idea what the formula was.

"It was part of your homework assignment, Miss Fawley." McGonagall added, obviously thinking this would help her... but Adelaide didn't do the homework assignment, so this only embarrassed her more.

"I-I um... I dunno..." she mumbled, face burning and wishing she could just crawl in a hole and die... or hex those annoying girls laughing at her stupidity at the front of the room— but neither were feasible in the middle of her transfiguration lesson.

McGonagall frowned. "Five points from Gryffindor... and I'd like to see you in my office this evening for detention." she said, walking away to get the correct answer from an annoying dirty blonde Ravenclaw.

Sirius reached for Adelaide's hand under the table. He knew Minnie was her favorite teacher and she was probably feeling mortified. "It'll be okay, Ads." he whispered. "Minnie loves you."

Lily coughed from where she sat in front of them and muttered something under her breath that sounded suspiciously like, 'she's not the only one.'

Adelaide scrunched up her nose in annoyance and yanked a lock of auburn hair, leading Lily to briefly look back at her in disapproval.

It wasn't the first time Lily had made a comment like that. Ever since Adelaide told her about Sirius's latest accidental 'I Love Your Nose' moment, the ginger would not stop with her irritating commentary. It was getting to the point that Adelaide was seriously regretting ever confiding to her in the first place.

"What was that about..." Sirius asked when they began the practical part of their lesson, trying to keep his guinea-fowl from wandering away.

Adelaide's eyes were set on James's notes from the lecture, trying to make sure she didn't completely screw up twice in one class period. "What was what about? I was tired after Quidditch and didn't do the homework"

"No, with you and Evans... you pulled her hair— what are you, seven?"

Adelaide huffed and turned to face Sirius so quickly, her hair whacked him in the face. "You used to pull my hair all the time!"

"That was _flirting_." Sirius said with an eye roll, as if this should have been an obvious and totally justifiable excuse for his own childish behavior.

"On what planet is that considered flirting?" Adelaide said shrilly, catching the attention of Remus behind them who chuckled at their squabble. "Moony, would you pull Amelia's hair and call it flirting?" Adelaide asked, turning to face their werewolf friend.

"I-I um— w-what?" Remus said blinking several times. He hadn't actually admitted that he fancied Amelia Bones to anyone, not even himself... unless you count Sirius, but he didn't technically fancy her then... Regardless, Adelaide's question caught him off guard and he suddenly felt very hot. Was he the only one who felt hot? Did Hogwarts even have an A/C system? They should really think of adding one—

"I asked if pulling a girl's hair is considered flirting!" Adelaide said impatiently.

"Of course it's considered flirting!" Sirius grumbled (Remus swiftly left his seat to ask the professor for help on something he understood completely). "But that's not the point! I was asking why you pulled Lily's hair."

Adelaide's face flushed. "No reason." she said quickly just as Lily chuckled from in front of them. "Shut up, Lily!" she snapped.

Lily turned to face them. "I didn't even say anything, Addy!"

"You laughed."

"Marlene said something funny! Am I not allowed to laugh anymore?" Lily asked innocently.

Adelaide's eyes narrowed as she glowered at the auburn haired girl. "No."

"Addy! What's with you?" Sirius asked as Lily turned away. "Is this about Alex—"

"No!" Adelaide snapped.

"Then what is it?" Sirius asked, pulling his guinea-fowl closer before it hopped off the table. She was acting quite odd, and he couldn't for the life of him understand why. "Did something happen between you two?"

"No— I just— she— ugh! I'm not having this conversation!" Adelaide huffed, "Please just let me turn this damn thing into a guinea pig!"

Sirius pursed his lips, but dropped the subject for the rest of class.

* * *

Later that afternoon, as Professor Slughorn droned on and on about poison antidotes, Adelaide tried her hardest to stay awake. Her sleepless nights were catching up to her it seemed, and it was all she could do to keep her eyes open, much less take notes on the stupid subject she detested. Her eyelids were heavy, and she kept nodding off...shaking herself awake every time her thoughts moved to her mother or her brother...

She was so out of it, that she didn't even notice someone poking around in her thoughts.

Eventually, just as Slughorn began to explain the antidotal properties of flying seahorses, Adelaide fell asleep at her desk.

Instantly, her mind flashed to her mother, staring down at her with those horrible, hazel, hawklike eyes, wand pointed at her ominously, beginning to say that awful curse— but then those hawklike eyes turned from hazel to blue— the blue eyes of a grey werewolf pinning her down by the pigtail with her brother's blood dripping from it's jaws, snarling and reaching closer—

Then Adelaide was on the ground of the potions classroom, for she had fallen out of her seat.

"Miss Fawley! Are you quite alright?" Slughorn asked the girl on the floor... who now seemed to be hyperventilating.

Everyone in the classroom was staring at her in disbelief, including the usually indifferent Severus Snape. "I-I um...erm I— " Adelaide sputtered, face heating up in embarrassment, feeling panic bubbling up in her chest. The room began to feel smaller and smaller. She had to get out of there.

"Addy are you oka— Addy stop!" Sirius called, watching her sprint out of the classroom. He moved to follow after her, but was stopped by James. "Move! I need to help her!"

"Stop! Everyone— please calm down!— Mr Black, if you step out that door it'll be detention for a week!" Slughorn called.

Sirius ignored him and pushed past James, and ran out the classroom to find Adelaide.

* * *

Adelaide sprinted down the dungeon hallway toward the first floor corridor to get some air near the transfiguration courtyard. Her heavy foot falls echoed loudly against the stone walls of the castle and her breathing became more and more uneven. It was as if every feeling she had been holding back all week was bubbling up to the surface... and every horrible image in her head was running on a loop in her mind.

She ran and ran until she finally turned the corner to the corridor that led to the courtyard. That's when she saw Minnie walking up the path toward her. Hot tears of embarrassment and shame fell down her face. The very last thing she wanted to do was have her favorite professor see her in such a state.

"Miss Fawley? What are you doing out of class?" Professor McGonagall asked sternly, face softening as she saw the petite girl furiously wipe away her tears.

"I-I'm sorry—I-I know I sh-shouldn't be here—I just—" Adelaide said, voice breaking, panic rising more and more the closer the stern professor came to her, wondering if she would still have to serve her detention if she fainted, or died of embarrassment— both of which seemed like very possible outcomes at the time.

"Adelaide, dear, come with me." The older woman said, brows furrowed as she guided Adelaide toward her office.

The office was small, full of tartan pattern, and had a large warm fireplace. This was it, Adelaide thought to herself, this was the place where Minnie finally told her what a screw up she was... or perhaps worse... maybe she would expel her on the spot... As the professor began to look through her drawers for something, Adelaides imagination began to come up with all sorts of horrible possibilities.

"This is a calming draught." Minerva said slowly, handing a little vial of liquid to the confused and emotional girl, eyeing the potion as if it were poison. "It'll help you feel better, dear." she said warmly, sitting down on the armchair beside her.

Suspiciously, Adelaide drank the potion, and within two minutes, she found herself, indeed feeling much better. "Thank you..." she said softly, eyes fixed down at her fingers as they fumbled at her sleeve.

"You're welcome, dear." Professor McGonagall said simply. "Now, would you like to explain what led you to be in such a state?" she asked.

"I-I uh— I was in potions... and er... I fell asleep..." she said glancing up. "I really tried not to though! It's just that... it was so boring, and I already knew everything he was talking about anyway— and I haven't been sleeping all that well at night— and I suppose it caught up to me..."

Minerva pursed her lips as she thought through her next question. "Why haven't you been sleeping at night?"

Adelaide tucked her hair behind her ear. "I um... I have a lot of nightmares, ma'am."

"Did you have a nightmare during class today?" she asked gently, yet bluntly at the same time.

"Erm... Yes. I uh... I fell on the floor— it was really embarrassing..." Adelaide mumbled, face heating up just thinking of how much more of a nutter everyone probably thought she was... especially those gossipy Ravenclaw girls... ugh! They would probably get a kick out of all this.

Minerva nodded in understanding, then waved her wand, conjuring some tea cups to float in front of them.

Adelaide drank the tea happily— it was the same kind Remus always made her when she was upset. "Thank you." she said politely. "For the tea... and the potion... and for not yelling at me..."

"Yes, well... you're welcome..." the older woman said tersely, as if she wasn't used to getting so many thank you's. "Now, as soon as you are finished with your tea, we are going to speak with Madam Pomfrey and see what we can do to make sure something like this doesn't happen again..."

"Oh, thank you, but I don't think I really need anything—"

"Oh, I think you really do." the woman said somewhat sassily, ending any further discussion on the matter.

* * *

After Adelaide finished her tea, she and Professor McGonagall made the walk to the infirmary to speak with Madam Pomfrey... when they were met by a very out of breath Sirius Black. "Addy! Minnie!" he cheered through his labored breaths, beaming.

"Mr. Black! What are you doing out of class?" The professor scolded.

"I came to check on Addykins." he said, pointing at his now smiling girlfriend as if this should have been obvious. "And merlin, I've looked everywhere... I even had Nearly Headless Nick round up a ghost search party for you, Ads!" he laughed before frowning slightly. "Shoot, I should really have him call that off..." Minerva continued walking with Adelaide past the rambling, sweaty boy. "Hey! Wait! Where're you going?" he called out behind them.

"The infirmary, Mr. Black."

"Well wait for me!" he grumbled, jogging to catch up.

Adelaide looked up to the woman. "You're letting him come with us?"

"I think it's better if we keep an eye on him, don't you?" Professor McGonagall said with an almost smile causing Adelaide to let out a small chuckle.

* * *

"This stuff is _amazing_." Adelaide smiled with her eyes closed that evening, head on Sirius's chest, feeling more relaxed than ever by the lovely calming draughts and sleep potions Poppy had cooked up for her. It also helped that McGonagall canceled her detention.

Sirius chuckled, playing with her hair. "Well I'm glad you're feeling better..."

"I feel great!" she sighed. "I love Poppy." she said, nuzzling into his chest.

Sirius's hands clammed up, making her hair stick to his fingers, so he moved them to rest on her upper back. "I-I um..." He just had to say it. He couldn't keep it in any longer... he had to tell her how he felt. For real this time. But when he opened his mouth to speak, the words he meant to say wouldn't come out... instead he asked, "What was up with you and Lily today?"

Adelaide reached to move his hand so that it would play with her hair again. "Oh, she keeps making fun of me for— erm... something."

"Oh _something_ , eh? How dreadful." Sirius teased, tickling her side and sincerely hoping the other boys got caught in their little prank and would let them have some more time alone.

Adelaide giggled, and looked up at him with a lazy smile... then lightly booped him on the nose with her finger. "I love your nose, Siri." she murmured, nuzzling into his chest once more before falling into a perfectly peaceful sleep.


	87. Chapter 87

**Chapter 87– Sanctimonious Salazar**

"For the last time, Padfoot, I'm not charming you a damn mustache!" Adelaide said in exasperation as they neared the great hall one morning in February.

It had been several weeks since McGonagall made Adelaide speak to Madam Pomfrey about her sleep troubles, and while her nightmares had not ended entirely, they were far less frequent; and though she still got worked up from time to time when her mind wandered, trying to make sense of the horrors she witnessed, she was able to take the calming droughts stashed in her book bag and regain her composure.

All things considered, it seemed that life was finally getting back to normal... Instead of worrying about the horribly traumatic events of her past, she was able to focus on other, more important matters, such as Sirius's new found determination to grow a mustache... Problem was, he couldn't _actually_ grow a mustache the natural way yet, so he needed Adelaide to charm him one.

"Oh come on, Addy! Please?!" he asked for what felt like the thousandth time that weekend, stooping down lower and looking up behind his lashes to give her great big pitiful puppy dog eyes. He could have easily asked someone else to do it, but she was the only one he trusted with a spell that close to his gorgeous face.

"Stop that." Adelaide said, unceremoniously pushing his face away with her hand and continuing on toward breakfast.

"Please, Addykins! I'll do your Potions homework for a month— two months!"

"I already said no."

"Aw, come on, Ads! He's been talking about it for ages!" James whined. "and he could totally pull it off! Look at that bone structure!"

Peter nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah! I think it'd look cool!"

Remus shook his head at his idiot friends. "Why can't you all just accept that she said no?"

"Thank you, Remmy." Adelaide said pointedly as they approached an impatient looking girl with honey blonde hair. "Woah! Merlin, Marls... you look...uh... nice..." Adelaide said awkwardly. Marlene was dressed in a rather low cut shirt, tight jeans, had her hair curled and flouncy, with a full face of make up. Quite the look for a lazy Saturday morning... it wasn't even a Hogsmede weekend.

Marlene frowned, looking down at her ensemble in slight disappointment. "I was going for hot..."

"Y-you definitely look hot." Peter said instantly, face red as a tomato, eyes wide a saucers and practically drooling.

Marlene ignored him.

"What's got you all dressed up, Marls?" Sirius asked, arm unconsciously snaking around Adelaide's waist.

"I think ' _who_ ' would be the better question..." James sniggered.

"Can't a girl get dolled up just for the fun of it?" Marlene said innocently. Adelaide crossed her arms over her chest and raised an eyebrow. Marlene let out a loud breath and rolled her eyes. "The reason doesn't matter."

Adelaide heavily suspected that this new look of hers had something to do with her ongoing revenge plot against Amos, who happened to be snogging a new girl as of late—fellow Hufflepuff, Erin McDougal. However, Adelaide was much too hungry that morning to really push the matter further. "Well... you have fun with that, I've got a hot date with a gorgeous bowl of oatmeal that I'd really rather not be late to—"

"Yeah, she needs her strength to charm a mustache on me later!" Sirius grinned.

Marlene tilted her head, looking at his face thoughtfully. "You'd look good with a mustache—"

"No! No he wouldn't! Let's go, Pads!" Adelaide said a forcefully, pulling him into the hall, followed soon after by the other boys,

"Wait! Potter, can I talk to you for a second?" Marlene asked. James shrugged and stayed behind with the blonde, figuring she had a question about their big transfiguration paper due that Monday.

Once in the hall, Adelaide waved goodbye to the boys and continued on her way toward the Slytherin table for her usual weekend breakfast with Evan and Regulus—Only she didn't make it very far.

"Noooo, Addykins... Don't go..." Sirius pouted pitifully, gently pulling her to stand in front of him with his hands rested on her hips.

"You're welcome to join me." Adelaide smiled sweetly, secretly hoping he would take her up on her offer.

Sirius made a face. "No thank you..."

Adelaide sighed then stood up on her tip toes to give him a semi-passionate kiss, then wriggled out of his grip saying she'd see him later, leaving him to stand by himself, pouting as he watched her go off to the Slytherins.

While Sirius was moderately okay with her being friends with Evan and Regulus, lately she'd been a lot friendlier with some of the other, less savory, members of the accursed house. He knew that she was only pretending to get along with them because her dad asked her to, but it still deeply bothered him— much more than he ever let on.

"There you are!" Evan said as Adelaide _finally_ sat down with them, flashing her his trademark dazzling smile and reheating her oatmeal with a flick of his wand.

"I told you she had to get in a snog with _Siri_ first..." Regulus sniggered. "Ow, Ads! That hurt!" he yelped, rubbing the back of his head where Adelaide had whacked him.

"That was the point, Reggie dear." she said sweetly, sitting down beside him and mussing up his hair.

"Are you sure she isn't a Slytherin?" smirked Marjorie (Madge) Farley, a Slytherin friend of Regulus's in Adelaide's year. Adelaide's only interaction with the blue eyed girl had been a prank the Marauder's played on her and her friends the previous semester, charming their quills to translate everything they wrote into welsh (an idea complements of Mr. Remus John Lupin: Welsh expert extraordinaire). Regulus warned Adelaide that she would be joining them, saying that she was 'one of the most tolerable of their Slytherin lot', a high complement coming from him.

"Positive..." Regulus grumbled, patting his hair down.

"Um, it's Madge, right?" Adelaide said awkwardly.

Madge nodded, flipping her sleek black hair behind her shoulder . "We have potions together."

Adelaide made a face of disgust for the class itself and Evan scratched the back of his neck, clearly nervous about how this interaction would go. "So, where's Mary off to this morning?" he asked brightly, hoping to ease the tension... and find out where his crush had run off to.

"Oh... um... She uh... well she's sitting at the Ravenclaw table today..." Adelaide said hesitantly, mouth full of oatmeal.

Evan frowned, but Regulus looked interested. "Why?"

"Um... Well she's sitting with uh... Martin." Adelaide said awkwardly.

Regulus looked even more intrigued. "Martin? Martin _McKinnon_?"

That seemed to peak Madge's interest as well. "He's that dreamy Ravenclaw chaser, right?" she smirked.

"I wouldn't call him _dreamy_..." Evan grumbled under his breath.

"Why is she sitting with him?" Regulus asked, glancing behind him in search of the two.

Adelaide knew this conversation was going to happen at some point, she just really wished she didn't have to be the one to break the news. "Um well, you see... they're uh... dating." she said softly, taking a sip of her tea.

" _Dating_?!" Evan said in alarm, voice higher than normal. "Since-since when?! He-he's _way_ too old for her! He's a bloody _sixth_ year!"

Adelaide knew Evan wouldn't take this new development lightly. The news of Mary and Martin caught her by surprise when she heard it as well, so she could only imagine how crushed the poor, sappy Slytherin must be feeling.

Madge raised her eyebrows at the boy, thoroughly amused by this new drama. "Someone's jealous..."

"I'm not jealous! I just think she should be with someone more— Sanctimonious Salazar!" Evan all but yelled, blue-green eyes wide in astonishment at something behind Adelaide.

"What?" Adelaide asked, brows furrowed as she turned to look behind her. "Sirius tried to do that stupid mustache charm on himself, didn't he? I told him not to—Good merlin!" she gasped, hands over her mouth, looking at Marlene and James kissing semi-passionately in plain view of everyone in the hall, with no sign of stopping anytime soon.

Several of James's admirers seemed to be taking their grandiose display of affection particularly hard, but none of them amounted to the look of hurt and betrayal on Peter Pettigrew's pudgy face just before he bolted out of the hall.

"Oh no..." Adelaide said as she watched him run, eyes scanning the room for a certain red head sitting further down at the end of the Slytherin table with Severus, staring at the two in utter shock. "Oh no no no..."

"I thought Potter fancied Lily?" Regulus said in confusion.

"He does." Adelaide said quickly, standing up from her seat. "Sorry, I uh... I have to go. Maybe we can um... try this again at dinner..." she said, locking eyes with Sirius who looked more confused than anyone.

"It's fine, Ads..." Evan said distractedly, gaze now fixed on a certain brunette sitting at the Ravenclaw table.

Adelaide felt bad for Evan getting his heartbroken and all, she really did. However, as much as she would have liked to console him, she had to figure out what the hell was going on and marched straight to James and Marlene.

The two eventually unlatched themselves enough to sit down for breakfast, earning even more whispers and stares, which Adelaide was beginning to suspect was by design when she saw Amos Diggory's politely bewildered expression from the Hufflepuff table.

"What the bloody hell was that all about?!" Adelaide fumed, frantically waving between the two of them. Across from them, Sirius sat with his mouth agape, apparently still rendered dumbfounded by the shock of it all, and it seemed that Remus had run off to find Peter.

"We're dating!" James said brightly, sneakily glancing over to where Lily Evans sat with her back turned. "Isn't it great?!"

"No, prongs! Not great! You fancy Lily, remember!?" Adelaide said incredulously. "How—when did this even happen?!"

Marlene lazily checked her watch. "I'd say about five or six minutes ago..."

"How?! Why?!"

Marlene shrugged. "The heart wants what the heart wants."

Adelaide sputtered incoherently, too flustered to function properly, but Sirius finally found his voice. "I don't think the _heart_ has much to do with this..." he said knowingly.

"Oh calm down! This'll be fun! We can go on a double date next weekend at Hogsmeade for Valentines!" James said a little louder than entirely necessary, grinning and glancing toward the Hufflepuff table.

Adelaide stared at him with her jaw practically to the floor. Since when did James Potter ask anyone out besides Lily Evans?! "Did you give him a love potion or something?!" she asked the blue eyed girl in an incredulously shrill voice.

Marlene looked offended. "No, I didn't." she said truthfully. "Do you really think I would do that to my Jamie-pooh?" she said innocently.

Sirius burst out into laughter, spewing pumpkin juice all over James. "Your _Jamie-pooh_?!"

James wrinkled his nose in disgust, wiping away the pumpkin juice with a napkin. "We're still ironing out the nicknames..." he grumbled, sending a nasty look to his new girlfriend.

Marlene didn't seem to notice James's comment, attention now fixed on the burly, yet handsome, freckled blonde Ravenclaw boy stomping toward them. "Oh boy..."

"What the hell Marley?!" he said, face red in anger. "You're with _Potter_ now?!" he spat, saying James's surname like it was a dirty word.

"Hey!" James cried in offense.

Martin McKinnon glared at the boy dangerously and Adelaide swore she heard him growl.

"Calm down, Marty." Marlene said, trying to sound casual as she stood up from her seat to confront him. "It's not a big deal— at least I didn't start dating one of your best friends—"

"Is _that_ what this is about?! You're trying to get back at me for being with Mary?!"

"No! That's not—!"

"—then what is it?!"

"I fancy James!" she said loudly in frustration, hands balled up into fists. Martin let out a humorless laugh. "Why is it so hard for anyone to believe that I might actually fancy him?!" Marlene exclaimed incredulously, throwing her hands up in exasperation.

"Because you don't fancy people, Marley. You _use_ them!" Martin spat.

Marlene rolled her eyes, masking the hurt his jab brought to her. "Really?" she said sarcastically. "You're one to talk! Using my best friend as an effing rebound!"

"I told you, it's not like that—!"

"—Whatever, Marty! You just live your life and I'll live mine—!" she said, smiling through her anger.

"—I'm your brother! I'm supposed to look out for you—What do you think dad would do if he heard about you running around snogging anyone who breathes—?!"

"—WELL DAD ISN'T _GOING_ TO HEAR, IS HE?!" Marlene roared dangerously, anger radiating off of her in waves, moving to stand inches from his face, wand clutched in her hand.

"Enough! That's enough! Both of you! My office! Now!" Professor McGonagall said forcefully, pointing to the door.

Adelaide and the rest of the school watched in utter shock as the McKinnon siblings were escorted out of the great hall.

Adelaide slowly sat down with James and Sirius. "This better be a bloody joke, Prongs." she said, pinching the bridge of her nose. James didn't answer, still shell shocked from the screaming match between the two siblings.

Sirius ran his hands through his hair. "Man, Wormy's probably heartbroken..."

James's face instantly paled and a look of deep guilt etched itself upon his boyish features. "Wh-Where is he?" he asked, looking around.

"Ran off when you two were playing tonsil tennis—"

"—I think it's tonsil _hockey_ —" Adelaide interjected.

"—and Moony went to go find him."

James cursed under his breath, head bent down and running his hands through his hair.

"This _is_ a joke, _right_?" Adelaide asked once again. "A prank?"

Again, James didn't answer her question. Instead, he rose from his seat and said, "I need to find Pete..."

Adelaide and Sirius watched him go in a daze.

"So... um... how about that mustache?" Sirius chuckled awkwardly, trying to ease the tension.

Adelaide face palmed at his ridiculousness. "Still not happening, Pads."

* * *

No one saw Marlene until later that night after dinner, and when they did, she looked about ready to bite someone's head off.

"Hey Marls—"

"Shut it, Black!" she snapped. "Where's James?" she asked Adelaide in a semi-calm voice.

Adelaide shared a look with Sirius, whom she was currently cuddled up next to on one of the big sofas of the common room, and wordlessly pointed to the corner of the room by the window, where the messy haired boy sat alone and brooding, editing the Marauders' transfiguration papers and other assignments on a loveseat.

Meanwhile, Lily, who was working on her care of magical creatures assignment with Mary on the floor, looked up, watching the two carefully, brows knitted together.

Within seconds, Marlene and James were sitting in the same loveseat, snuggled up closer than Adelaide and Sirius— which as a difficult feat for anyone to achieve.

With a sound of disgust, Lily left the room.

"Uh... I-I'm going to go check on her real quick..." Adelaide said, leaving the warmth of Sirius's side.

Sirius looked at James and Marlene, then over to the girls' staircase, frowning slightly. "Do you want me to come with you? Maybe I can help..." he said out of genuine concern for Lily.

Adelaide smiled sadly and gently cupped his face in her hands, momentarily distracted by how adorably puppy like he looked, then kissed the bridge of his nose, fighting the overwhelming urge she had to confess how much she was in love with him. "No, I've got this one..." she said softly as she moved a bit of his hair out of his eyes, "But I expect to resume our cuddling when I get back." she giggled lightheartedly, yet with complete sincerity.

Sirius watched her go, sneakily admiring the view of her rear end in her jeans, then returned to reading his quidditch magazine.

"This is all my fault..." said a miserable voice from below him on the floor. "I should have never agreed to date him..." Mary said, big brown eyes looking down at her assignment, welling up with unshed tears. "Now everything is all screwed up and it's all my f-fault..."

"Woah, Mary— it-it's not your fault..." Sirius said, trying to not sound as awkward as he felt. As much as he wanted to be helpful, he got a little freaked out by emotional girls that weren't Adelaide... especially when Adelaide wasn't around. "Oh no... please don't cry..." he said in vain as Mary began to sniffle with tears flowing down her cheeks.

* * *

Meanwhile upstairs, Adelaide slowly pushed open the big wooden door to the girls' dormitory and saw Lily staring at a flower petal floating in a glass bowl filled with water, freckled nose scrunched up in concentration with her wand in hand, muttering words under her breath.

As Adelaide padded across the room toward her, she watched as the flower petal gracefully transformed into a beautiful, angelic, pastel colored fish. She had never seen or heard of any spell like it before, which was really saying something. "Woah! How'd you do that?!" she asked, clearly impressed as she sat down on the bed beside the ginger fish charmer.

Lily shrugged noncommittally, eyes fixed on her fish. "Came up with it the other day." she said softly.

Adelaide tilted her head in confusion. "You _'came up with it'_?"

Again, Lily shrugged, fingers lightly tapping the glass to try to get the fish's attention. "I made up the spell... but it still needs work, I haven't been able to keep it fishy for very long..."

"You-you made up a spell? Like you just created a new one?!" Adelaide asked, freaking out over this new information. "How?!"

"Sev taught me. It's really not that hard— It would probably help if I knew latin though..."

"You _don't_ know latin?"

Lily finally looked away from her fish peering at Adelaide in confusion. "No... do _you_?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Utique facere i!" Adelaide exclaimed.

Lily laughed in disbelief. "I'm sorry, _what_?"

Adelaide let out an impatient sigh, rolling her eyes. "I said, 'of course I do!'" she laughed. "Wait... do you really not know latin?"

"Uh no?" Lily smiled through her bafflement.

"What the hell do they teach you in those muggle schools?!"

"Um... lots of things... Just not latin..." Lily giggled.

Adelaide looked down, shaking her head in disbelief, wondering what other crazy differences there were between wizard primary school and muggle. "Do you think you could show me how to do the spell thing?"

Lily's smile drifted away as her bright green eyes returned to her fish. "Yeah, just not tonight..."

Adelaide nodded and twiddled her thumbs awkwardly for a moment, wondering what she was supposed to say... She knew Lily was starting to warm up to James, and seeing him with Marlene must have stung.

"Addy, I know why you came up here... but I swear I'm not upset about them dating." Lily said quietly. Adelaide was not convinced in the least. "I was just _surprised_... and honestly I'm a little worried about her. I mean, what was she even talking about with all that stuff about her dad?"

Adelaide quickly realized that she may have been the only person that Marlene had confided to about her father being missing. "Oh uh..."

"And you know, Martin has a point... she's made out with at least seven different guys that I've heard of since she found out about Amos... I dunno what's gotten into her... She used to tell me about everything, but now— now she hardly even talks to me anymore." Lily said, tucking her hair behind her ear.

Adelaide knew that Marlene had been a little troubled since finding Amos on the train, but she had no idea that she'd made out with that many people or that she'd been pushing Lily away like that.

"I'm sorry, Lily." Adelaide said softly. She didn't really know what else there was to say.

Lily looked up with a small smile. "Thanks, Addy."

"You know... If you _were_ a little upset about her being with James, I wouldn't say anything..." Adelaide said slyly, trying to coax the truth out of the stubborn girl.

Lily rolled her eyes, chuckling as she set the fish down on her desk. "I'm sure you wouldn't. You can't even manage to say 'I love you' to Sirius." she smirked.

Adelaide's face burned, mostly because she was right. "Shut up." she grumbled, tucking her hair behind her own ears then retracting her hands into the oversized sleeves of Sirius's comfy red Jumper. How did this backfire so quickly? She was only trying to be a good friend! "Do you wanna head back down, now?" she asked, desperate to change the subject.

Lily smiled a little more at her friends awkwardness, then nodded. "Sure, maybe we can start a rumor that I'm dating Remus or something and freak everyone out even more." she chuckled.

"Oh, don't even joke about that! I don't think I can handle anymore drama today." Adelaide moaned as she opened the door.

* * *

 _"Quack!"_

"Why the holy heck is Mary holding a duck?!" Lily exclaimed loudly upon reentering the common room.

Adelaide's eyes landed on her brunette best friend's tearstained face, then to the medium sized mallard in her lap, and lastly to the curly headed boy who seemed more uncomfortable than Peter around a Flitterbloom. "What the hell, Pads?"

"She— she was crying, Addy! And you were gone... and I-I panicked." he said, running a hand through his hair.

"So you gave her a flipping duck?!" Lily asked incredulously.

"He-he said his name was W-wallace..." Mary said, big brown eyes looking up at them.

 _"Quack! Quack!"_

Adelaide would have laughed if Mary hadn't clearly been so upset. "Really, Pads?"

"I told you! I panicked, okay! She just kept crying and Wallace always cheers me up! I thought it was worth a shot!"

Adelaide rolled her eyes and pulled out her wand, turning the Wallace back into a couch cushion.

"Ugh! You didn't have to kill him, Addykins..." Sirius grumbled.

Adelaide ignored him. "Come on Mary, let's go upstairs..." she said, helping the tall girl to her feet.

"Do you want me to come help?" Sirius asked, regretting his words as soon as he said them.

"So you can charm her some more ducks?" Lily laughed.

"I think you've done enough, Siri..." Adelaide said, giving a pointed look to the girl who was not crying until she left him alone with her.

"N-no, he can come..." Mary said, surprising them all. "Er... _Sicut canis_..." she said discreetly to Adelaide, saying 'as the dog' in Latin.

"Am I seriously the only one who doesn't know latin?!" Lily exclaimed.

"You don't know latin?" Sirius asked in disbelief. "What the hell do they teach you at those muggle schools?"

"Apparently not latin..." Adelaide said under her breath, leading Lily to become even more exasperated, and successfully cheering up Mary, who was now giggling up a storm over Lily's frustration with the dead language. Adelaide glanced over to the corner of the room to ask if James knew latin as well, forgetting about the whole Marlene mess... but James was no where to be found. "Where'd James and Marls go?" Adelaide asked no one in particular.

"They left. Probably to go snog in the secret room or something..." said a bitter voice— the bitter voice of Peter Pettigrew who was sitting beside a very tired Remus Lupin.

"Oi, Ads! Why didn't we ever think of doing that!?" Sirius called in much too loud a voice.

Adelaide cringed at his terrible lack of tact, but also wondered why they _hadn't_ thought of utilizing that room...

"They aren't snogging." Remus sighed. "Prongs was upset and left to go talk to her."

"They could still be snogging..." Peter grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest.

Adelaide pursed her lips. Something fishy was going on between those two and she was determined to figure it out. "Do you have the map?" she whispered to Remus who handed her a large, blank, piece of parchment. "Thanks, Remmy!" she chirped, bolting toward the portrait hole without warning.

"Addy! Where are you going?" Sirius exclaimed, stumbling after her in confusion.

Adelaide waved the parchment in the air without even looking behind her. "Going to talk some sense into those two idiots!" she called out.

"Addy!" Sirius yelped, voice breaking as he tried to keep up with her, sprinting up the stairs. "What if they really are snogging?! You don't want to see that Ads—"

"I'll be fine!" she said impatiently, sprinting off around a corner and into an abandoned corridor. "Let's see where you little love birds are..." she said quietly after muttering the magic words into the map.

Sirius finally caught up with her, hands on his knees, out of breath and wondering when the hell she got into such good shape. "Addy—what if— they— really are— dating—"

Adelaide stopped her searching and looked up at Sirius, forest green eyes more fierce than usual. "They _aren't_! They _can't_ be! James has fancied Lily longer than I've fancied you! There is just no way he would move on that quickly!"

"Addy—I know its a lot to take in... but maybe— maybe he doesn't want to seriously date her like he would with Lily—"

"What the _hell_ does that mean?" Adelaide snapped.

Sirius ran his hands through his hair, pacing slightly. "All I'm saying... is that some guys are okay with dating someone they don't particularly fancy all that much... as long as they get to... you know... snog and stuff..."

Adelaide was thoroughly horrified by this information. "W-what—I don't—you—tha-that's not what _this_ is, right?" she asked, her insecurities getting the best of her.

"No!" Sirius gasped, moving to stand in front of her. "Oh hell no! I-I got lucky, Addykins..." he said, looking at her as if she was the only girl in the world. "I get to snog the girl I happen to lov— fancy... erm... the girl I happen to fancy... _a lot._.." he ended awkwardly, moving away.

"S-so you're saying that you think James is only dating her so that he can snog her?" Adelaide stated more than asked, breathless and ignoring the fact that he almost said he loved her, _again._ "But what about Marlene? What-what if she really does fancy him...What if she—what if they—"

Sirius sighed and put his hands on her shoulders. "—Listen Ads... I know you want to help them... but I don't think that their relationship is really any of our business..." Sirius said carefully.

Adelaide opened and closed her mouth several times... trying to think of a reason to prove him wrong... but she couldn't. "Well... then what do we do now?"

Sirius looked around mischievously. "Well... we're all alone right now... Which means we have two options..." he said in a low voice, resting a hand on the wall behind her. "We could either partake in some pranking... Or..." he said, moving in closer, lips only centimeters apart. "You could charm me a mustache..." he purred.

Adelaide smirked, pulling him closer by the collar. "Pranks it is." she whispered, lips brushing against his as she spoke, just before running away, giggling.

"Oh come on, Fawley! Think of how much more handsome I'd be with a mustache!" Sirius whined as he ran after her.

Adelaide laughed, looking over her shoulder. "You're plenty handsome already!"

* * *

Sirius chased Adelaide around for a while before they ended up in a playful little dual... pranking each other instead of other people (luckily for the rest of the school).

Sirius flicked his wand, sending a gold, sparkling spell towards Adelaide, hitting her right between the eyes. "You did _not_!" Adelaide exclaimed in open-mouthed disbelief, hands reaching up to the top of her head.

Sirius let out a bark like laugh. "I think they're cute!"

Adelaide scrunched up her nose in annoyance, inadvertently wiggling the fluffy white cat ears now on top of her head, then wordlessly flung a jinx at the laughing boy.

Sirius sighed in resignation. "You gave me dog ears, didn't you?"

"I think they're cute!" she teased, backing away with a giggle. "I would have given you a tail too if I didn't lov-l- _like_ you!"

Sirius tried to be annoyed with her, but it was impossible when she looked so adorable. Thankfully for Adelaide, he seemed to totally miss her nearly saying she loved him. "Oh you get back here!" he said running after her once more. She made it all the way down the hall before stopping abruptly, face looking surprised and bewildered. Sirius ran up from behind, grabbing her around the waist and peppering kisses on her cheek... until Adelaide frantically pulled him behind a corner, breath heavy.

"Addy what—"

"Shhh!" she hushed in a panic. "Look..." she whispered, pointing around the corner.

Sirius furrowed his brows, unsure if this was a trick or not, but humored her. Slowly, he peaked around the corner and realized why she was acting so weird. "Is that... Marlene? ...with _Regulus_?" he hissed once he retreated into hiding with his cat eared girlfriend.

Adelaide nodded in alarm.

Sirius peaked around once more, sure that whatever he saw last time had to be a mistake. But sure enough, there Marlene stood, giving a prolonged hug to his brother... and holding a... _duckling?_ This made even less sense than Marlene dating James. Marlene was not a hugger nor was she a big fan of animals.

Adelaide yanked him back into hiding.

"Why does she have a baby Wallace?" Sirius asked in confusion.

"Maybe she was crying." Adelaide quipped.

Sirius gave her an annoyed smile, rolling his eyes. "Ha ha... Really, Ads. Since when are they even friends?"

"I didn't think they even knew each other..." Adelaide said, thoroughly bemused. "What are they doing now?"

Sirius peaked around once again, eyebrows raising practically to his hairline. "Uh oh..."

"Uh oh?" Adelaide hissed, hastily peaking around as well, spying Marlene and the Slytherin boy moving closer to each other in a near kiss— "OMMMPH!" That's when Adelaide lost her balance, wand clattering onto the floor loudly as Sirius pulled her out of view by the waist to keep her from falling to the floor as well. "Shit..." she whispered in frustration. "Do you think they heard me?"

Sirius gave her an amused smile, then looked and saw Marlene and Regulus walking in separate directions, nearly out of view. "I think they did, Ads..."

"Can I go talk some sense into her now?" Adelaide asked, raising an eyebrow.

"If I say yes… will you charm me a mustache?" Sirius asked hopefully.

Adelaide rolled her eyes and ran off to find Marlene.


	88. Chapter 88

**Chapter 88- Marlene McKinnon: Serial Snogger**

On Saturday morning, Marlene McKinnon sauntered up to the great hall feeling more confident than usual in her ensemble, tapping her foot, waiting for the hoard of mischief makers to come bustling in.

After some semi-amusing banter with the little mischievous troupe, she watched them walk toward the entrance, carefully waiting for them to make it a little ways before she pounced.

"Wait! Potter, can I talk to you for a second?" Marlene asked.

James shrugged and followed her to a nearby hallway. "What's up Marls?" he asked curiously, pushing up his glasses.

"I need you to be my pretend boyfriend." she said casually, as if commenting on the weather.

James blinked a few times in surprise, but he was honestly taking it better than Marlene expected (he'd always had a flare for the dramatic). "I-I uh... Look, Marls... you're great! And I um... like being your friend... but uh I really fancy Lily..." he said awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck.

Marlene nearly gagged at the thought of him actually thinking she fancied him. "Ew! No, Potter! I need you to be my PRETEND boyfriend. Fake. Not real."

"Ohhh!" James said in relief, before becoming even more befuddled than before. "I'm sorry, what?"

Marlene groaned in frustration. "I need you to pretend to be my boyfriend." she said slowly, over-enunciating every syllable as if he was a total idiot.

"Yeah, I got that." James said, bristling at her tone. "Why?!"

Marlene sighed. "I want to— to prove Amos wrong..." she said, seeming much more vulnerable than James was used to seeing her. "He said that I couldn't be in a real relationship with anyone..."

"So you plan to prove him wrong by getting into a _fake_ relationship?" James asked, raising an eyebrow and seeming much more paternal than she was used to.

"Look, it's not just him, okay!? It's a lot of people. Everyone thinks that I'm some serial snogger and I'm just so sick of it!"

James frowned. He'd heard the rumors going around about her and did his best to keep people's mouths shut (they were friends after all), but he had no idea that it bothered her so much. She was usually above all the petty drama— calm, cool, collected with the worlds thickest skin... But now... he was beginning to wonder if it was all an act. Still, act or not, this was a preposterous plan, even by his standards. "You know, this is really immature... I would expect more from you Marls."

"Would you please quit doing that?" she snapped.

"Doing what?"

"Trying to sound like a disappointed parent or something, it's freaking me out..." she said, eyeing him in confusion.

"I'm not _trying_ to sound like anything." he huffed in annoyance. "Why do you even need me to do this? Surely there are plenty of other guys who would be willing to _actually_ date you—"

"—I'm sure there are, but the last person _I_ wanted to _actually_ date ended up being a total prick, sooo... It just seemed like a better idea to pick someone I definitely didn't fancy and who certainly didn't fancy me." she reasoned.

"Why _me_ though?! Seriously? Of all the people, why'd you have to pick _me_?"

Marlene rolled her eyes, as if she thought that his question was posed for no other reason than to annoy her. "Well, first of all you're probably one of the most popular blokes in school—"

"I'm popular?" James asked with an impish grin, ego ballooning to the size of a small house.

"Yes." Marlene said shortly. "Anyways, I needed someone popular and who people also thought was hot to get Amos's attention and really piss him off... It was between you and that Evan guy Addy always hangs around, but he's a Slytherin... and I wouldn't be caught dead snogging one of those snakes—"

"Hold on... people think I'm hot too?!" James asked with an even wider grin, ego swelling to the size of a very large house. "Does Lily think I'm hot?!"

Marlene rolled her eyes but didn't answer his question, getting a little annoyed with his interruptions. Did he really not know the hoards of girls mooning after him? "As I was saying. You were just the logical choice, especially since it would work out in your benefit as well—"

"Huh?"

"Lily." Marlene smirked. "If she thinks you're dating me, imagine how jealous she'd be..." she said persuasively. "Might be enough for her to finally admit that she fancies you." Honestly, Marlene had no idea if Lily fancied James or not, but _he_ seemed convinced that she did, and that was enough to get him on board.

"You really think it'd make her jealous?" he asked in a softer voice. "You don't think it would... I dunno... make her upset... Addy said I should be nice to her... this doesn't seem very nice..."

"Of course Addy would say that..." Marlene sighed. She loved Addy, but the poor girl was a little naive when it came to things like this. "Look. Girls like it when guys are jerks to them. Don't ask me why, I have no idea. But it's a thing... And we also get jealous when we see someone we fancy with someone else..."

"Are you sure?"

Marlene gave him a withering look, and James immediately dropped the subject.

"Okay... I-I'll do it... but um... how is this going to work?" he asked, scooting his crooked glasses up the bridge of his nose once more.

"Well... I think we try to make it past Valentines at least, give time for Amos to really get riled up and dump his little tart of the week… And we should go on a double date with Addy and Sirius at Hogsmeade— it'll make things seem more legitimate..."

"Oh that'll be fun!" James said brightly. "Okay... what else?"

"Um... well... we really need people to believe that we're together... Which means..."

James tried to think through what this could mean... handholding? "Which means, what?"

"We're going to have to kiss..." she said, as if she was in pain. "In front of everyone."

James's face turned bright red. He hadn't actually kissed a girl before... "Uh... can't we just uh... hold hands and stuff?" he chuckled awkwardly.

Marlene shook her head, looking like she was going to be sick. "No... it has to be real, or no one will buy it."

"B-but I— I uh... um..." he stammered pathetically. "Are you sure this will make Lily jealous?"

"Positive." she lied confidently.

James nodded to himself. He would do it for Lily. "Okay... but uh... I haven't actually... erm... you know..."

"Just follow my lead and you'll be fine." she said as reassuringly as she could.

"I sure hope this is worth it..." James muttered as they walked into the great hall.

"It will be, Jamie-Pooh..." she smirked, nearly laughing at the look of disgust on his face at the name.

* * *

Marlene walked out of the great hall after her screaming match with Martin absolutely fuming. Of all the contingencies she had considered, him choosing _today_ of all days to act like a protective big brother was not one of them. She stomped down the hall, following McGonagall to her office and felt as if her blood was boiling she was so upset— how _dare_ he bring up their father like that!

"You're a real git, you know that." she muttered venomously to the pig brained idiot excuse for a Ravenclaw beside her.

Martin clenched his fists and hardened his freckled face, trying to not let her get to him.

Within a few minutes they reached the Deputy Headmistress's office, cozy and full of tartan, and sat on two chairs facing her desk.

"Are you really going to give us detention for getting into an argument?" Marlene asked somewhat impatiently. She didn't mean to come off rude, but she knew the school rules well, and knew that all they could possibly be guilty of was disturbing the peace.

"No, Miss McKinnon." Minerva said shortly. "As it happens, I was on my way to fetch you both before your rumbustious spat ensued." she said, sparing them both a withering look. "I have news of your father."

Martin and Marlene instantly sat up in their seats, and found that whatever trifle matters that had bothered them earlier that day were now unimportant.

"D-did they— did they find him?" Martin asked in a shaky voice. "Do you know if he's okay? What did—"

Professor McGonagall put up a hand to silence him, stern face unreadable. "They have a lead that they are preparing to follow through on late this evening... But they have asked me to warn you... that even if they manage to find him... the outcome may not be in your favor." she said giving them both a sympathetic look.

Marlene bit the inside of her cheek so hard that she wouldn't be surprised if she broke the skin. Why was she telling them things they already knew? Marlene had gone to bed everyday for the past few months wondering if her father was even alive... why feel the need to fill them in now? "Is that all?" she said in a monotone voice.

"No." Professor McGonagall said tersely. "There are two aurors here on the grounds who would like to interview you concerning the murder of your Aunt..."

Both McKinnon siblings felt a cold sense of dread wash over them. It seemed that was one nightmare they would never be able to put to rest.

" _Again_?" Martin asked incredulously. "We've already told them everything a thousand times!"

"I'm afraid I've told you all I know Mr. McKinnon... Now, the aurors are waiting for you just outside the office. You will be taken to separate classrooms to conduct the interviews..."

"Well let's get this over with then..." Marlene grumbled.

Professor McGonagall pursed her lips and gave her a curt nod before standing up to lead them toward the door.

When Marlene and Martin walked out of the office, Marlene couldn't decide if it was a good thing or a bad thing that they were beginning to be on a first name basis with the aurors.

"Hey _Mad Eye_ ," Martin smiled, giving the crotchety and battered man a firm handshake. "How're you holding up?"

Alastor (Mad Eye) Moody gave a genial grunt. "Well enough to sick it to those Death Eater bastards..." he said under his breath, avoiding the stern professor who would not approve of his conversation... not that he really cared—he just didn't want to make this day longer than it really needed to be. "Sorry about having to bring you lot through all of this again..." he said to the boy.

Marlene crossed her arms over her chest in annoyance. "How long is this going to take?"

"The interviews shall take as long as necessary. We plan to conduct a full and complete re-investigation into the events that preceded and proceeded the death of the late Miss Matilda McKinnon." said the one auror Marlene couldn't stand— Mr. Barty Crouch Senior. He was as serious as they came, never had she once seen him crack a smile, and something about his unnaturally straight hair and creepy, narrow toothbrush mustache put her in a very bad mood. "Now, if you will please come with me Miss McKinnon—" he said curtly, gesturing stiffly towards an empty class room down the way. "we need to begin."

"You sure we can't switch?" she grumbled, annoyed with how pleased Martin looked having Mad Eye as his interviewer. Marlene soon regretted saying anything, as her small comment sent Mr. Crouch into a very long lecture about the importance of following guidelines and the proceeders set in place by the Ministerial institution at large.

* * *

After a full day of trying to recall every last little gut wrenching detail of witnessing her aunts murder with the ever lovely Mr. Crouch, Marlene was, naturally, in an even more intolerable mood than before.

She stormed into the common room on the look out for James, hoping that if she hung out with him she could keep away the others, who were probably dying for information. The very last thing she wanted to do was answer more ridiculous questions.

"Hey Marls—"

"Shut it, Black!" she snapped a little more venomously than she really intended. "Where's James?" she asked Adelaide, trying to sound more calm, and less like a nut case.

Adelaide shared a look with Sirius then pointed to the corner of the room where James sat alone, doing other people's homework. She walked over without a second thought and figured this was as good an opportunity as any to prove their fake relationship was real, and snuggled up beside him.

"Where the hell have you been all day?" James hissed.

"I can't tell you." she said honestly. If her time with the stupid, rule abiding ninny had taught her anything, it was that conversations with aurors concerning murder investigations were 'top-secret'.

"Great... Lily just ran upstairs... I thought you said this would make her say she fancied me?"

"Well it's only been a day... not even that." Marlene grumbled.

"Can you get off of me? I'm gettin claustrophobic here..." James said huffily, elbowing the blonde away.

"No. I can't. If this is going to work then—"

"What if I don't want this to work— what if I don't want to do this anymore?!" James hissed, brows knitted together, clearly upset about something other than her invading his personal space.

"We had a deal, Potter..." Marlene said through a fake smile, trying to convince the rest of the common room that they were having a flirtatious row. "Why are you acting like a total spaz?"

"We need to talk. Now." he said standing up and helping the girl to her feet, practically dragging her out of the common room.

"Get off me!" Marlene complained, yanking her arm out of his grip the second they were out the portrait hole.

"This way." he muttered, walking at a break neck pace down a dark random corridor.

Marlene followed after him, despite her better judgment to just run back to the common room and go to bed early. "Okay, what is it? You want to fake dump me or something?"

James rounded on her, face stern beyond his years. "I want to know why you are really doing all of this."

"I told you, I want people to stop thinking I'm just a Serial Snogger—"

"Then what was all that shit with your brother? And Mary? You know she's been beating herself up about the stuff you said all day. She thinks that you're mad at her for dating your brother—"

"—I never said that! Mary's my best friend! If anything, I'm glad she's with Marty and not that snake—"

"—And don't even get me started on Peter—!"

"—What the hell does Peter have to do with anything?!" Marlene asked, genuinely blindsided.

James looked at her in frustration for a long moment, grappling for words. "I thought you were observant!"

"I _am_!" Marlene bristled. "I just don't see how your random friend has _anything_ to do with this conversation!"

"He fancies you, Marls! A lot! And now he's absolutely pissed at me and I can't even blame him for it!"

"Well it's not like I was going to ever date him anyway—"

"That's not the point!" James groaned. "He feels like I betrayed him by dating you when _he's_ the one who's fancied you for ages!"

"Well how was I supposed to know that?!" Marlene said indignantly.

"You weren't!" James said loudly. "But it just further proves my point that maybe we shouldn't be doing this anymore—"

"What am I supposed to do? Just tell everyone I lied?"

"We can just tell them it was a prank, everyone already thinks it was anyway." James said in a more calm voice.

Marlene let out a loud sound of frustration. After the day she'd had, all she wanted was to be alone, not be in a stupid fight with James 'holier than thou' Potter. Especially not when it could be the last night she went to bed with hope that her father was alive... "UGH! You know what, just do whatever the hell you want, Potter! I don't care! Tell everyone it was a prank— just please leave me alone!" she said, feeling a lump in the back of her throat beginning to form.

"What?" James asked, a little startled by her quick change of heart.

"I SAID _LEAVE_!" Marlene roared dangerously.

James started down the hall, back toward the common room, but stopped before he got too far. "Look, I dunno what's going on with you Marls... but if there's something you need to talk about—"

"POTTER, JUST LEAVE ME THE HELL ALONE!" Marlene screamed, watching the gangly boy run away as if he had just seen a bloodthirsty animal.

The moment he was out of view, Marlene felt hot tears fall down her face, and instantly wiped them away... but they kept falling. If there was anything she hated more than hugs and Barty Crouch Senior, it was crying. She was not weak. She was not the person who cried and had emotional breakdowns. Or at least, she didn't used to be.

Ever since her father had gone missing, those stupid tears had made more and more unwanted appearances in her life. She tried to distract herself from the pain of missing him, and the fear that gnawed within at what he may have been going through, by snogging boys and planning revenge plots, but it was becoming more and more obvious that her distractions were causing other, unintended consequences. It felt as if her life was imploding one friendship at a time.

With a loud sound of angsty frustration at the world, Marlene began kicking a nearby wall, cursing Death Eaters and Amos Diggory and Barty Crouch Seniors stupid creepy mustache through her tears.

"You'll break your foot doing that..." said a calm voice to her side.

Marlene rounded to face the intruder and momentarily thought it was Sirius, for the resemblance was striking. He had the same black curly hair, and handsome features... but this boy didn't have the mischievous fire in his grey eyes that Sirius had... he had a coolness to his grey eyes, and a heaviness about his posture that conveyed wisdom beyond his years... wisdom earned through experiences that hardened him… much like her...

"Thanks for the advice, but I think it's better for everyone if I just carry on." she said sharply, trying to scare him away.

The boy didn't seem phased in the slightest by her. "Well, if you must, you must." he said almost lazily with a shrug.

Marlene looked at him curiously. Something about him was different... a good different. A dangerously good different. The kind of dangerously good different that would get her in even more trouble if she dwelled on it too long. "Well... goodbye then." she said, pointedly, trying to get him to run off, back to whatever dark corner he popped out of.

The boy tilted his head to the side like a curious puppy, and a small, barely there smirk formed upon his soft lips. "You're leaving so soon?"

Marlene made a little sound of impatience. "Ugh! Please just go away!" she said fiercely, in a voice that would have scared off any other boy. This boy, however, had the audacity to chuckle.

"Now, why would I do that?" he laughed, taking a seat on a nearby bench. "I'd much rather watch you make a fool of yourself from here..." he smirked.

"You don't need to sit there to watch me make a bloody fool of myself..." she muttered, wiping her tear stained face, thinking back to all of her childish behavior over the past few months. She glanced back to the boy who looked quietly amused.

"Oh, but it's so much more fun watching up close."

Marlene gave him an annoyed smile.

"Well go on then, get to kicking!" he smirked, gesturing to the wall behind her. "Don't let me hold you back!"

Marlene looked at him in disbelief for a moment. "I'm not going to kick the wall with you sitting right there!"

"Would you rather I stand again?" he asked innocently.

"I would rather you go away!"

"Oh my apologies! I didn't realize wall kicking was such an intimate affair!" he teased.

Marlene rolled her eyes. "If I leave and go down the hall... what are the chances you'll follow me?" she asked in a resigned tone.

"Oh they are very good. Almost definite." he smiled. Marlene really wished he wouldn't smile, it was making it very difficult for her to loath him properly.

"You're very annoying, you know that?"

The boy chuckled and she suspected that she reminded him of some private joke. "So I've been told..." he trailed off before looking at her curiously. "Do you even know who I am?" he asked bluntly.

"You're the annoying bloke who won't let me brood in peace." she snapped.

"Close..." he shrugged. "As I see it, I'm the lucky lad who saved you from breaking your foot." he smiled sweetly.

Marlene rolled eyes to mask how much his stupid sweet smile affected her.

"So, out of pure curiosity... why were you crying and hell bent on kicking that poor wall when I walked up?" the boy asked.

"I was pretending it was a Death Eater."

"Seemed a bit personal..."

"It is." she growled, trying to keep away those stupid tears that just insisted on falling every time she thought of her father being kidnapped by those loonies, or of what terrible things they must have been doing to get information from him, or if he was even alive... knowing that she didn't even get to say goodbye...

The boy's lighthearted expression melted away, and he suddenly looked genuinely concerned, patting the spot next to him for her to sit down.

Marlene was conflicted. As much as she really wanted to sit beside him, something in the back of her mind kept saying that she should keep her distance— that this was someone she was in dangerous territory of fancying more than Amos. But how much would it really hurt to just sit down?

And so, Marlene McKinnon sat down beside him, crying like Mary whenever she felt any particularly strong emotion, and probably making a total fool out of her self around this annoyingly persistent intruder.

The boy began to pull a very nice handkerchief from his pocket. "I don't want your stupid handkerchief." she muttered, her pride not wanting to be wounded any further.

"Well then it's a good thing I wasn't going to give it to you." he teased in a gentle voice. With a flick of his wand, muttering some strange spell under his breath, the dark haired boy transformed the handkerchief into a fluffy little duckling. "Meet Dennis." he smiled proudly, handing the little duck to the girl, who had ceased her tears momentarily.

"You know I'm not really much of an animal person..." Marlene said hesitantly, yet taking the duck nonetheless.

"Well it's not an animal technically, it's a handkerchief." he smirked, knowing that she did not want his handkerchief in its original form.

"You're a sneaky one..." she chuckled softly, deep blue eyes on the small little duck, lightly petting its soft head.

" _quack_."

Marlene smiled in surprise. "Oh my god, that was adorable." she said without thinking.

"I thought he would cheer you up... " he said proudly, noticing how pretty she looked, even with tears stained cheeks.

Marlene looked up at the tall, duck charming boy beside her, and gave him a watery smile. "Thank you."

"For the handkerchief or the duck?" he smirked, bumping shoulders with her.

"For not treating me like I was an invalid just because I was upset." she said honestly. "Everyone always walks on eggshells around me and it drives me bloody insane."

The boy nodded in understanding. "Well, I guess I'm used to dealing with volatile personalities... No offense."

Marlene looked up at him curiously. "None taken..."

"So, why are you so upset?" he asked, cool grey eyes surveying her face, flickering down to her lips for just half a second.

Marlene wiped her face with her sleeve and continued to pet the little duckling. "I-I uh... I've had a pretty bad day... well a pretty bad couple of months if I'm being honest..."

"I uh... I saw you and your brother getting into it this morning at breakfast—"

"That was the least of it..." she said softly, now realizing that this boy must have known who she was, knew her reputation... and yet, he hadn't tried to make a real move on her like any other boy would have by this point.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked softly, reaching out to pet Dennis the duck as well, fingers brushing hers and feeling his stomach flip.

Normally, under literally any other circumstance, Marlene would not talk about anything with anyone, especially not when she felt this vulnerable. However, this boy, for some inexplicable reason, seemed to be on the same wavelength as her—maybe it wouldn't be such a horrible thing to tell him what happened...

"My dad's missing." she said bluntly. "Kidnapped by Death Eaters... The same ones who murdered my aunt in front of me."

An unreadable emotion flashed in the boy's eyes. "I'm sorry." he said genuinely, reaching out to hold her hand without even thinking.

"quack."

A small smile tugged at her lips at how cute Dennis the duck was... or maybe it was because of the cute boy holding her hand... "It's okay..."

"No, it's not." he said sternly, eyes hard and focused on nothing in particular. "What they did to you and your family isn't okay at all." he said, giving her hand a little squeeze before letting it go.

Marlene couldn't deny how right he was... and she also couldn't help but feel comforted hearing someone say what she had been thinking. "So um... where'd you learn how to charm ducklings?" she asked, wanting to change the subject to something that didn't remind her of how much she missed her father.

"My friend taught me..." he said cryptically, giving her an odd look. "They uh... they calm my brother down when he's upset—It was really supposed to be a duck, but I can't manage to get the spell to make anything but ducklings." he laughed.

"I think Dennis is quite nice as a duckling." Marlene said thoughtfully, petting the little bird.

"I thought you weren't fond of animals?" he smirked.

Marlene pressed her lips together to keep from smiling as she looked down at the duck. "Well it's a handkerchief, technically." she shrugged, sparing a glance up at the boy, taking in his cool grey eyes, excellent bone structure, and soft lips— she caught herself and instantly moved her gaze back down to the duck.

She couldn't get attached.

In the back of her mind she knew who the mystery boy who saved her from breaking her foot really was... but her heart was having a hard time making sense of it—he was nothing like what she imagined him to be.

Still. She couldn't get attached to _him_ of all people.

"You can keep him—Dennis, that is." the boy said softly.

Marlene smiled slightly. "Thanks."

After several minutes of contented silence, the boy with short curly hair checked his watch and spoke once more. "Do you want me to walk you to your common room?" he asked, noticing that it was nearly curfew.

Marlene glanced up once again and saw a sincerity and softness in his eyes that she'd never seen in Amos—or any other boy she'd been with, and nodded.

Quietly and slowly she walked along side the tall boy down the halls back towards Gryffindor tower, Dennis still letting out little quacks along the way, hearing the faint sounds of people running around and laughing somewhere off in the distance, and Marlene felt more at ease than she had in ages... For the first time in a long time, she felt the thick sturdy walls she put up around her heart falter, and she found that she didn't really mind...

"Um, I think it's best if I just let you go from here..." the boy said, stopping in a hallway not too far away from the portrait hole and scratching the back of his neck.

Marlene nodded in understanding, then smiled softly up at him. "Thank you... for keeping me from breaking my foot tonight." she winked.

The boy chuckled softly. "Any time!"

Marlene wasn't sure what it was that possessed her to do what she did next, but in the next moment, she found herself wrapping her arms around him, pulling him into a warm embrace. She was the girl who hated hugs, and here she was hugging some boy she hardly knew... and not wanting to let go.

The boy tensed at first, but eventually he found himself holding on to the feisty girl that smelled of strawberries and not wanting to let her go either—not wanting that perfect moment to end.

A small "quack," sounded from her hand and Marlene pulled away, yet still standing quite close in front of the boy. Her honey blonde hair fell in her face and she began to reach, to tuck it behind her ears, when another hand did the honors, lingering and running his fingers through her hair.

She looked up at him with a slight smirk, stomach twisting into knots like it had with no other boy, and felt drawn closer toward him like a magnet— heart racing and eyes, like his, flickering between his eyes and his lips... She knew this was not going to help her reputation as Marlene McKinnon: Serial Snogger, but in that moment the only thing she could think of was him. The sweet boy who miraculously made her feel happy and safe when her world was falling apart.

They both moved closer and closer, hesitating, eyes meeting each other's before hers flickered down to his lips, and fluttered closed when they briefly brushed, touching yet not quite kissing yet—

"OMMPH!" sounded someone from around the corner as the loud clanking of a fallen wand echoed through the halls. The two instantly broke apart and looked in panic at the mass of white hair being dragged out of view.

"Shit..." Marlene hissed backing away down the hall. "I-uh... I'll see you around Regulus." she said just before making her way down the opposite end of the hall, a small smile on her lips, and Dennis the duckling in her hands.

Regulus backed away, confused, thrilled, and terrified all at the same time. She knew who he was the whole time... and still she nearly kissed him. She knew he was a Slytherin, she knew his reputation as a dabbler in the dark arts… and still she gave him a chance to prove her wrong. If his heart hadn't already been taken by the feisty girl, this would have been enough to have her on his mind for ages.

* * *

Marlene sprinted at top speed to the common room, ignoring the stares she earned upon reentering, and flew up the stairs to her dorm, knowing full well that Adelaide was close behind…

The petite girl burst into the room with fluffy white cat ears atop her head, hardly breaking a sweat, and Marlene wondered why, if she was in such good shape, she insisted on being carried around like a freaking princess all the time.

"YOU! REGGIE! DUCK!" the girl exclaimed incoherently, pacing back and forth past Marlene who was sitting on her bed with the little duckling in her hands.

"His name is Dennis—"

This seemed to make Adelaide even more exasperated, causing the cat ears on her head to wiggle . "YOU— YOU WERE CHEATING ON JAMES—!" she exclaimed, pointing an accusatorial finger at her fiendish friend.

"I didn't cheat on James." Marlene said calmly.

"YOU KISSED REGGIE!"

"—I _almost_ kissed him… it doesn't count—"

"—You shouldn't be _almost_ kissing people that aren't your boyfriend, Marls!" Adelaide ranted.

"Look… I'll explain everything tomorrow… but I've had a really long day, and I'd really like to try to get some sleep…" she said, knowing this was not what Adelaide wanted to hear. But, she really did have a long day, and she really wanted to go to bed before she had time to dwell on the possibility of her father being found dead the next morning.

Adelaide gave her a hard look with a hawkishness to her eyes, analyzing her for several long moments. "Fine. But tomorrow, you explain _everything!"_

"I will. I promise…" Marlene lied.


	89. Chapter 89

**Chapter 89–** **I Think You're a Lot of Things**

Adelaide awoke Sunday morning with her limbs dangling off the side of her four poster bed, face squished up and drooling upon her feather pillow, listening to the sound of a thick Scottish accent... At first, she thought perhaps she was having a weird dream that involved Minnie (not an unprecedented occurrence), but somewhere along the line she wisened up and realized the _real_ Professor McGonagall was _actually_ standing in her dorm room and peaked open an eye.

In addition to the confusion of seeing her tartan clad transfiguration Professor and head of house in such an unfamiliar place, Adelaide felt a rush of relief that she had spent the night in her own bed rather than with her boys. She could only imagine the look on the strict woman's face if she ever found out she'd spent so many nights snuggled up in the Gryffindor boys' dorm, no matter how innocent it was.

"Marlene, dear..." Minnie said quietly, trying to wake the soundly sleeping girl hidden beneath a heap of honey blonde hair. Adelaide tried to understand why on earth Professor McGonagall would make a personal wake up call for her troubled friend— maybe she had an early morning detention she forgot about? "Marlene...Dear you need to wake up..."

Marlene awoke at last, sitting up quickly, deep blue, sleep filled eyes half open and looking around the room in confusion. "I'm up... I'm up... Just save me some french toast, Lils..." she mumbled to whom she must have thought was Lily as she sat up from her bed.

"Marlene, dear... I need to speak with you in private..." Professor McGonagall said in as gentle a voice as she was capable of possessing. Marlene's head jerked toward the woman in surprise... then Adelaide watched her face pale... she looked like she was either about to burst into tears or start vomiting. Nevertheless, Professor McGonagall helped her put on her robe and walked out the dormitory so that they could speak privately.

Once they were out the door, Adelaide sat up, thick white-blonde hair tied up in a rats nest atop her head (along side the cat ears that Sirius had charmed on her the night before), and looked around the slightly messy dorm room to see Mary sitting up in a similar fashion the next bed over (minus the cat ears).

"What do you think that was all about?" Mary hissed.

"I dunno..." Adelaide answered honestly. "But did you see Marlene's face?"

"Not really... couldn't see much past all the plaid..."

"She looked terrified." Adelaide said, now leaning closer to her best friend.

"Weird... but if McGonagall woke me up I'd probably be terrified too..." Mary shrugged.

"Should we try to follow them?"

Mary snorted. "Addy-bell, I don't think that's a good idea... You are literally the least sneaky person on the planet..."

Adelaide grumbled a bit, but Mary had a point...

"What's with the cat ears?" Mary whispered in confusion, wondering if maybe it was an animagus transformation gone wrong.

"Huh?"

Mary pointed to her friend's head, covering her mouth with her hand to keep from giggling when Adelaide's cat ears began to wiggle.

"Oops! Sirius and I had a little dual last night..." Adelaide chuckled sheepishly, picking her wand up from the bedside table and undoing the jinx.

"Aw... I thought they were cute..." Mary whined.

"Do you think Lily's awake?" Adelaide whispered.

"She's awake." Lily said in a normal voice, eyes still closed from where she lay in her bed. "You two really need to work on your whispering skills..." she grumbled as she sat up.

"Did you see Marls get taken out by Minnie?" Adelaide asked.

"I heard them... McGonagall sounded weird..." Lily said, sitting up and straightening out her covers.

Adelaide didn't think she sounded weird at all. It was the way the Professor spoke to her anytime they were alone together. In fact, Minnie's unexpected maternal tendencies were one of the reasons she was Adelaide's favorite Professor.

"What do you think they're talking about?" Mary asked.

Lily pursed her lips in thought. "I dunno... but _something's_ been bothering Marley lately... maybe it has something to do with her family?"

Adelaide's heart sank into her stomach. Her father. Of course... Something must have happened with her father...

Mary shrugged. "Maybe... I'll ask Martin later."

"I keep forgetting about you and him..." Lily said half to herself. "I thought you fancied that cute Slytherin guy?"

"I fancy Martin!" Mary said a little aggressively. "I am _completely_ over Evan Rosier!"

Adelaide could tell just by her defensive tone that she was most certainly _not_ completelyover Evan Rosier. "If you say so..." Adelaide said under her breath, getting up from her bed to head to the bathroom.

"I am!" Mary said in annoyance as Adelaide fled the room at a quicker pace.

Once she'd washed up and put on some mascara for the day, Adelaide headed back into the room and began digging through her trunk for the black jumper formerly owned by Sirius Black.

"I really am over him..." Mary said quietly from where she sat brushing her long dark brown hair atop her bed, her usual bubbly and bright face forlorn.

"I never said you weren't..." Adelaide said as she finally found the jumper in question.

"But you obviously don't believe me..."

"I just..." Adelaide began as she struggled to pull the jumper over her head... "think..." she continued as she finally managed it. "that it's a little— _dammit_!" she exclaimed, realizing that she put the jumper on backwards...

"You think it's a little _what_?" Mary asked, trying to stay on subject.

Adelaide cursed the stupid cozy jumper as she tried to turn it the right way. "I just think it's a little... I dunno... odd. You and Martin. I didn't even think you knew each other—what do you two even talk about?"

"I'll have you know it's _not_ odd! I've known Martin for ages and he's fancied me all school year! And—and we talk about loads of things!"

Adelaide briefly paused her search for a shoe under her bed and looked up to her friend to pointedly raise an eyebrow. "Such as?"

" _Such as_ Quidditch! He plays Quidditch, I commentate it!"

"Right..." Adelaide said as she returned to her quest to retrieve her trainer, currently being held hostage by a rather large dust bunny. "So what's his favorite team?"

"Uh... it's... erm..."

"And what's his favorite player?"

"Well it's that one guy that... um..."

Adelaide's smug look was hidden from view as she reached beneath her bed for the illusive footwear... momentarily smirking to herself at the time she charmed all of Evan's shoes into hedgehogs. "And what's Evan's favorite team?"

"Appleby Arrows." Mary said almost immediately.

Adelaide pulled her shoe out with a look of triumph at Mary's perturbed expression... and that she found the shoe... but mostly because of Mary.

"I know what you are trying to do _Adelaide_ , but that proves nothing." Mary said as she huffily stomped to the bathroom.

"Whatever you say, Mary..." Adelaide smirked as she watched her go.

* * *

As soon as she was dressed, without even bothering to wait up for the boys, Adelaide flew out of dorm, made a beeline toward the great hall, stomped over to the Slytherin table, and began pulling Regulus away by the ear, much to his displeasure.

"Hey! Stop it Ads! What the hell is wrong with you!?" he complained as she drug him past the gossiping onlookers, out the doors and onward to an abandoned classroom, slamming the door behind her.

"You!" she said, pointing at him accusatorially. "You sir, need to explain why you were almost kissing Marlene McKinnon—the Marlene McKinnon who happens to have a boyfriend, mind you!"

Regulus's ears turned a little red and a blush bloomed across his cheeks. "Uh... erm... well she-she isn't really dating James—"

"Excuse me?!"

"I heard them talking! In the hall... before I found her kicking the wall... they-they said it was all fake..."

Adelaide looked at him in pure bafflement, but also internally congratulating herself on being right... "Do you want to explain why you were in the hall eavesdropping on their conversation?!"

"I wasn't _meaning_ to, Addy!" Regulus defended. "I was going to find Lily originally—she's been helping me out with my ancient runes homework and I lost this library book last time we were studying. I was hoping she had it so that evil librarian wouldn't ban me or something... Actually, I still haven't found it..." he said, getting off topic.

"Okay... so how did you go from accidentally eavesdropping to almost kissing?" Adelaide asked, tapping her foot with her arms crossed over her chest. "And where the hell did that little duck come from—I need answers Reggie!"

"I found her crying and kicking the wall like Sirius does when he's upset and I—well I couldn't just leave her like that! She looked so sad... so I erm... well I think I sort of annoyed her into telling me what was bothering her—"

"But the duck?! Where the hell did the duck come in?!"

"Oh— well she started crying again and I charmed her a duckling out of a hanky—and his name happens to be Dennis!" he bristled a bit.

Adelaide nodded and sat down on top of a dusty desk. If Marlene was crying that much, that meant something must have really been wrong... something must have happened. "Do you—do you know why she was upset?" she asked, tone a little more gentle than before.

Regulus hopped up on a desktop across from her. "I think it was just family stuff." he said carefully, not wanting to divulge too much.

"Did she say anything about her dad?" Adelaide asked.

"I dunno if I'm really supposed to say—"

"—she already told me what happened to him, Reggie."

"Oh... Well she just said he was missing... and that um... that Death Eaters took him..." he said, avoiding eye contact.

Adelaide frowned. "And she was crying because of that?" Regulus nodded. "Did she say anything else? Did she get news on what happened or something?"

"I dunno, Ads... she didn't really say a lot about it..." Regulus shrugged.

Adelaide gave him a curious look, smirking slightly. "But you two... are you two like a thing now... or?"

"No!" Regulus said quickly, face pink once more. "No—we just—I dunno what we are... it all just sort of happened..."

Adelaide smiled at how flustered he was. "You—you actually fancy her, don't you?"

Regulus tried to hide a goofy grin as he shrugged. "I dunno... maybe... She's cool..."

"You do! Aww!!" Adelaide gushed. "Little Reggie has a crush!" she teased, mussing up his hair.

"Stop it, Addy!" he moaned, patting his hair back down. "It doesn't matter if I fancy her or not—it-it would never work between us—besides she deserves someone better than me—" he said with his head bent low.

"Regulus Arcturus Black, you take that back right now!"

"No! It's true, Addy!" he said miserably, looking up at her. "She _hates_ Death Eaters—and-and I'm over here having freaking private lessons with the guy that had them kidnap her dad! Not exactly a stellar selling point!"

Adelaide did not enjoy this turn in the conversation. She preferred to think about Riddle as little as possible. "B-but you don't want to be a death eater—"

"—you should know better than anyone that it doesn't matter what I want." Regulus said darkly. "I doubt you want to be in an arranged marriage, but you're going to go along with it anyway."

"That-that's completely off topic—"

"No it's not." Regulus said firmly. "We both are having our lives dictated by Riddle... and if she ever knew all the stuff he's made me do... she'd hate me... She _should_ hate me..."

Adelaide frowned. "Being forced into doing bad things by bad people doesn't make you a bad person, Reggie. Marlene would be lucky to be with someone as lovely as you—you're funny and smart and sweet—you do have a weird obsession with birds, but I'm sure she could overlook that—and you're not tragically unattractive..." she smirked.

"Stop it, Addy..." Regulus said in a pitiful voice, hiding his face in his hands. "She probably doesn't even fancy me. Just let it go."

Adelaide felt bad for her sad little honorary brother, but respected his wishes and let the topic go... for the time being. "So... how's Evan been holding up?"

Regulus looked up to roll his eyes dramatically. "Ugh! He's been a bloody _mess_! Refuses to admit it's because of Mary... but it totally is... Why is she even dating that tosspot? I thought those two idiots were finally going to get together!"

"So did I! I don't know what happened... She keeps saying she really fancies Martin... but..."

Regulus raised an eyebrow. "But?"

"But it's so painfully obvious she still fancies Evan!" Adelaide said quickly.

"Well you're her best friend, can't you talk some sense into her?"

"I've been _trying_ to but she—" Adelaide's words were cut off by the door of the abandoned classroom swinging open dramatically to reveal a curly headed boy with a manic expression.

"JAMES—MARLS—IT WAS—ALL—A—PRANK!" Sirius said loudly, out of breath as he swung the door closed, Marauders map in hand.

"I know." Adelaide said calmly.

"You-you know?" he asked, head tilted to the side like a confused puppy... made more puppy-like by the dog ears still jinxed on top of his head.

"Yes..." Adelaide said, trying to not giggle at his wiggling black ears. "Reggie told me—"

"REG! YOU KISSED MARLENE!"

"—I didn't kiss her—"

"—but he wanted to—" Adelaide smirked.

"—But I didn't—!"

"—But he almost did!" Adelaide grinned.

"Can someone _please_ explain what's going on?!" Sirius asked, ears once again wiggling.

"What the hell is on your head?" Regulus asked incredulously.

"Huh?" Sirius said, tilting his head to the side once more making one of the dog ears flop adorably.

Adelaide couldn't contain her giggles any longer and nearly fell off the desk with her laughs.

After Adelaide managed to calm down enough to undo Sirius's jinxed ears, she and Regulus explained the whole weird situation to her poor confused boyfriend.

"Man... that's more random than Mary dating Caveman Martin..." Sirius said once they were finished. "But you know... if anyone could handle being around Marls it'd probably be you." he shrugged.

"But it doesn't matter... she probably doesn't even fancy me..." Regulus said for the second time that morning.

Adelaide pouted slightly. "Would you quit saying that? You have no idea what she thinks!"

"All I'm saying is, she snogs guys all the time... she probably didn't even think anything of it..." Regulus said softly.

"Yeah, but she hugged _you_." Sirius said, as if this should have explained something.

"Yeah...?" Regulus said, not really understanding why his brother was stating this random fact.

Sirius let out a breath. "She _hugged_ you!"

"I think we've established that Siri..." Adelaide muttered.

"No! She _hugged_ him, Addy! You're friends with her—when was the last time you ever witnessed Marlene McKinnon hug someone voluntarily?"

Adelaide slowly began to smile. "Oh merlin! REGGIE SHE HUGGED YOU!" she exclaimed, grinning and squealing like a crazy person.

"I'm confused." Regulus said bluntly. "Why the hell is her hugging me such a big deal—"

"Marlene doesn't hug people, Reg." Sirius said, seeing as Adelaide was still indisposed in her excitement. "So if she willingly hugged you, that means she—"

"She fancies you!" Adelaide blurted out, still beside herself with excitement for her Little Reggie to have a girlfriend.

Sirius patted Adelaide on the head, shaking his head as he chuckled at her excitement. "Well she definitely doesn't see you as just any other person." he clarified, not wanting to get his brother's hopes up... after all, Marlene also hated Slytherins...

Regulus thought this over for a moment. "Well... still... She was really upset... It was probably just a fluke."

Adelaide pouted and Sirius frowned slightly. It seemed that no matter what they said, Regulus was going to find a way to refute the obvious.

"Alright, well now that we've cleared everything up... can we go to breakfast? Moony's going to eat all the pancakes if we don't hurry!" Sirius whined.

* * *

That morning at breakfast, Mary sat at the Ravenclaw table, nibbling on her toast and half-listening to her boyfriend Martin's friends prattle on about the elements of wand wood and how they related to people's personalities... At first, she tried to follow the conversation, but eventually her mind began to wander toward Quidditch, as it usually did. She found herself with a renewed sense of excitement to see the Hollyhead Harpies with Adelaide the following month (she nearly died of happiness when she got the tickets for Christmas), and thinking about what outfits they would wear and who's autographs they would try to get... But then her thoughts drifted back to Adelaide's irritating questions that morning.

Of course, the most irritating part of Adelaide's stupid questions were that she actually didn't know the answers. Oh, but she would most certainly find out!

"Hey, Marty." Mary began sweetly. "What's your favorite Quidditch team?" she asked, looking up at him with big curious brown eyes and a kind smile.

Martin grunted as he shrugged, eyes still focused on his plate of poached eggs and sausage.

"Marrrtttyyyy..." she whined, rolling her eyes at his lack of answer. "Come on! What's your favorite Quidditch team?" she asked again with a smile, nudging his side.

"Wimbourne Wasps." he said shortly, hardly sparing her a glance.

"Oh... " Mary was stunned that he could possibly support such a horrendous team. She figured that perhaps he had a reason behind his terrible choice... After all, their new beater, Ludo Bagman, was probably one of the best beaters in the league... "Well, who's your favorite player?" she asked sweetly, not to be deterred.

"Ugh! I don't know!" he said impatiently without so much as a glance toward his inquisitive girlfriend. "Lewis Carroll." he muttered.

Mary furrowed her brows in confusion. She had never heard of any Quidditch player by that name, which was odd considering she knew nearly every player currently playing in the league. Perhaps this Lewis Carroll was an older player? Still, she thought she would have surely read about him in one of the numerous Quidditch books she owned.

"Hmm... never heard of him." Mary said. "You know, me and Addy have the same favorite player: Gwendolyn Morgan! Oh, you have no idea how jealous I was when I heard she and Sirius met her at that Slug Club party a while back! She's probably the best player ever—well she's not technically a player anymore... she's retired now—but still, she's the best!" Mary continued happily, not even noticing the annoyed look on Martin's face or the whispers by his friends across the table. "Addy said she's a talent scout now! I think that would be the absolute _best_ job— just traveling and watching people play all the time, making their dreams come true when you offer them a contract!" she gushed, finally noticing the sniggering Ravenclaws across from her. "Is something funny?" she asked genuinely.

A blonde Ravenclaw named Sasha burst out into laughter. "Sorry... I can't take it anymore! Someone tell her!" she said between her laughs.

Mary looked around in confusion... did she have food stuck in her teeth? "Tell me what?"

"Lewis Carroll isn't a Quidditch Player." a rather pompous boy across from her named Theadore said as if she was a complete idiot. Mary looked back at him in confusion and he rolled his eyes in impatience. "He's an Author."

" _Actually_ ," Sasha began in a very know-it-all fashion. "His real name was Charles Lutwidge Dodgson— he used a nom de plume."

At this point, Mary was entirely confused. What did this have to do with Quidditch? "A nom de what now?"

"A _nom de plume_ —It's a pen name." Martin muttered a little shortly, almost as if he was annoyed she didn't know what it was.

Mary looked back at him, still confused as ever. "So... why did you say he was your favorite player?" she asked innocently.

The two Ravenclaws across from them burst out into more laughter, which Mary was beginning to realize was at her expense. "I _thought_ you would have the common sense to know I was joking." the freckled boy muttered harshly.

Mary felt as if the wind had been knocked right out of her lungs and her face burned with embarrassment. She knew she wasn't the brightest... but for him to ridicule and belittle her in front of his friends like that, without any respect or regard for her feelings was completely uncalled for. "I-I um... You know, I'm not really all that hungry." she said, as she began to stand up from the table. "I uh... I think I'm just going to go..."

Martin sighed. "Mare-bear, I'm sorry. I'm just in a bad mood—" he said half-heartedly as he realized she was about to cry.

"No... I um... I'm j-just not hungry." she said quickly, wiping away a stray tear. "I-I'll see you later." she said as she tried to make her way toward the exit, not wanting to expose herself to anymore ridicule by sobbing in front of him.

As she rushed toward the doors, Mary briefly caught Adelaide's eye from where she sat at the Slytherin table and felt her tears begin to fall, stifling a sob before sprinting away.

"Mary! Mary wait!" Adelaide called, running after her. "Mary!"

Eventually, the dark-haired girl made it to a bench where she proceeded to cry into her hands.

"Mary! What happened? What's wrong?" Adelaide asked as she took up the spot beside her, rubbing soothing circles on her back.

"H-his favorite team i-is the effing W-wimbourne Wasps, Addy!" she cried in despair.

Adelaide gasped, genuinely surprised by her boyfriend's terrible taste in quidditch teams. Weren't Ravenclaw's supposed to be smart? "Well, at least it wasn't the chuddly cannons." she said with a reassuring smile. "Sirius won't shut up about how underrated they are." she chuckled awkwardly.

"The Chuddly Cannons s-suck." Mary stated factually through her tears.

"They do...I think Sirius only likes them because their an underdog."

"Sirius does like dogs..." Mary said, looking up with a watery smile before dissolving into more tears.

"Mary, shh... just breathe." Adelaide said calmly, helping her emotional friend calm down. Mary was always very grateful for Adelaide— she never seemed all that fazed by her crazy emotions and never made her feel bad about it. After a minute or two, Mary's tears were finally extinguished, but Adelaide could tell something was still weighing on her. "Mary... You weren't crying just because Martin's favorite team is shite, were you?"

Mary shook her head.

"What happened?" Adelaide asked gently.

Mary sniffled a bit. "I-I asked him who his favorite player was... and he said some guy that's actually an author... and I didn't even realize it until his friends were l-laughing at me and acting like I was a complete idiot for not knowing... and he didn't even stick up for me, Ads! ...He said that he thought I would have the common sense to know he was j-just joking." she said miserably. "He-he made me feel so _s-stupid_..." Mary said, a few tears falling down again.

Adelaide stayed quiet as she fought the overwhelming urge to run back in there and hex Martin McKinnon into the next century.

"E-Evan would never make me feel s-stupid." Mary said quietly.

Adelaide gave her a curious look. "No... No he wouldn't... Evan _knows_ you're brilliant." she said honestly with a small smile. "Actually, he was just bragging to Reggie's friend Madge this morning about your insane Quidditch knowledge."

Mary looked up at Adelaide with big, doe-like eyes. "Really?"

Adelaide chuckled. "Yes! He said that you could name every player in the league, what team they play for, what team they _should_ play for, what their stats were, and what they ate for breakfast that morning!" she laughed.

Mary blushed profusely. "That's silly... I only know what _some of them_ ate for breakfast this morning..." she said with a cheeky smile.

Adelaide chuckled once more, then sighed. She wished she could understand why she was dating that troll brained, caveman brother of Marlene's instead of Evan, the boy who without a doubt adored her so much it was borderline creepy. "Mary... what happened between you two?" she asked gently.

"I told you, he made me feel stupid—"

"No, with you and Evan." Adelaide corrected.

Mary squirmed a bit in her seat. "N-nothing..." she shrugged.

"Hippogriff Shit!"

Mary made a face. "Remus's foul mouth is rubbing off on you all..." she muttered.

"Don't try to change the subject Mare." Adelaide said, brows knitted together. "What happened between you and Evan? I thought you two were finally going to get together before break."

"We—we were..." Mary said in a small voice. "But-but then..." she trailed off.

Adelaide let out a loud breath. "Mary. Please just tell me. I promise I've heard worse— hell, I've probably done worse!"

Mary rolled her eyes at her friend. While Adelaide had most certainly done her fair share of rule breaking and rebellious acts to piss off her parents, she and Sirius were unfailingly loyal to each other—even before they were officially dating. They were the type of couple Mary looked up to in many ways. They would _never_ do to each other what she had done to Evan. But, Adelaide was her best friend, and Mary really needed to talk about this with someone...

"Okay, so you know how I got those tickets for us to see the Hollyhead Harpies next month over Easter break?"

Adelaide looked a little confused on the new turn in the conversation. "Yes? But what does that have to—"

"Shush! You wanted to know what happened and I'm telling you!"

Adelaide raised her eyebrows and shut her mouth.

"So you know I got the tickets... but there were... well _are..._ two more tickets." Mary stated, fiddling with a lock of hair. "Martha and Madaline said that they were going to be out of the country, so my parents said I could invite two more people... and so of course I told them I really wanted to invite you and Sirius and Evan... and that's when all hell broke loose." she said with a shudder. "You see, Dad's been totally paranoid with all these disappearances in the ministry and is terrified that he or mum are going to be next— Mum tried to tell him that no one was going to kidnap the coffee lady because she's, 'more important than the minister for office morale and the whole ministry would spontaneously combust without her'. And really, who's going to take the guy that regulates Quidditch?! Even Death Eaters like Quidditch! But he just refuses to listen...

"Anyways, I told them who I wanted to take and Dad just flipped out. Started going on and on about how all your families were bad and how he should have just sent me to Beauxbatons— Mum ended up convincing him that you were okay, and I guess even Sirius to a certain degree since you were dating him, but Dad just refused to see reason when it came to Evan. Kept ranting about how awful his family really was and forbade me from ever fraternizing with him ever again... which I assumed meant I couldn't have weekend breakfasts with him anymore, much less date him..."

Adelaide stared, slightly in shock of this new information. "B-but what about Martin?"

"Oh... well since I was avoiding Evan... I sort of kept running into Martin... and he really has fancied me all year... So when he asked me out, well... I just figured the best way to get over Evan would be to date someone else... and he's actually not that bad normally... but..."

"But?" Adelaide asked knowingly.

Mary let out a loud breath. " _But_ it isn't working at all! I just miss Evan all the flipping time! I miss his stupid smile, and the way he gets all flustered whenever someone talks bad about the Appleby Arrows, and I even miss him being all adorably awkward and doing that thing where he can't get words out in front of me! But I-I can't be with him, Addy! Dad would be furious! Ugh! What would you do if you were me?"

"I'd dump Martin and date Evan." she said immediately. "But, I have some issues with listening authority... On the bright side, if you did date him, there's no way your dad will be as mad as my mum is with me dating Sirius!" she said, trying to lighten the mood, however it had the opposite effect.

"Oh! Don't talk about that wicked evil woman around me, Addy! You'll make me start crying again!"

"Sorry..." Adelaide said sheepishly. "Hang on, didn't your dad take you to Evan's for the Gala a while back?"

"Yeah... But he made it very clear that was a one time thing for your sake..." Mary muttered.

"Oh..."

"Look, can we just go back in there and eat? I really don't want to think about my pathetic love life anymore." Mary whined.

"It's not pathetic." Adelaide said, rolling her eyes. "But, yes we can... but only if you say I can prank Martin for being a toerag."

Mary shrugged. "You're going to prank him regardless, but sure, knock yourself out."

* * *

Later that sunny Sunday afternoon, Regulus Black found himself scouring nearly every inch of the castle, retracing his steps in search of his ever illusive Library book. Unfortunately, his quest had been thus far fruitless... _actually_ , he ended up losing his todo list in the process as well.

"Stupid bloody book..." he muttered to himself as he stomped through the second floor corridor, passing Basil Fronsac's sleeping portrait. "Get the book on Golden Snidget's she said... It'll be great she said... Birds and quidditch... I knew it was too good to be true... I bet that stupid book flew away just to spite me..."

"You know, some say talking to yourself is a sign of impending mental collapse..." said a girl's voice from a hidden stairwell, making the already wound up Slytherin jump slightly in surprise.

"Good mythical Magpies! You scared me!" Regulus yelped, clutching his heart.

Marlene laughed so hard at his expression her side hurt. "Oh my god, you're face!" she wheezed.

Regulus rolled his eyes, trying to regain his composure as his ears burned. "You caught me off guard."

"Oh, I could tell!" she chuckled. "So, are you lurking or stalking me?" she asked raising an eyebrow.

"—I'm not stalking you!" he said too quickly.

"Sooo... you're lurking? I dunno if that's much better..." she smirked.

Regulus took a long breath, praying he didn't put his foot in his mouth again. "If you must know... I was searching."

"For a spiteful book?" she asked, obviously very amused by him loosing his cool.

"Yes." he said in a resigned tone.

"And how's that going?"

"Swimmingly." he deadpanned.

Marlene gave a sly smile. "Alright, I'll help you." she shrugged walking over to his side.

Regulus furrowed his brows in confusion, feeling much less smooth than the night before... thoughts drifting back to how lovely it felt to be next to her... of how she smelled like strawberries and springtime... and how soft her lips were...

"You obviously need help." she said, reading his odd, befuddled expression. "And I need a distraction. So, I will help you find your spiteful book."

Regulus merely stared at her for a moment in surprise, racking his brain for a pithy and witty response but coming up short.

"This is where you say, 'oh thank you Marlene, how very gallant and chivalrous of you!'" she teased, doing a rather good impression of the pureblood boy.

"You took the words right out of my mouth." he smiled.

Marlene smiled back without even thinking. "So, where to?"

Regulus hesitated for a moment, finally noticing her puffy, red eyes— she looked as if she'd just been crying again. "Well, I had it when I was in study hall in this room up here, sooo I guess we can look there next."

Marlene nodded in understanding and lead the way down the hall, toward the room in question. "So, what's up with you and this book?"

Regulus frowned slightly, just thinking of how awful it would be if his parents found out he'd been banned from the library for losing a silly book over birds. "I lost it... like a week ago... and now I'm mildly terrified Madam Pince is going to ban me from the library because of it." he shrugged, trying to sound calm and unaffected.

Marlene could tell he was actually very worried about this... she wasn't sure _how_ she could tell, but there was just something in his demeanor that seemed to betray him in a subtle way. So, despite the many silver tongue quips she could have thrown out after such a confession, she chose to take a path less traveled (well, by her at least) and try to quell his obvious anxiety. "Last year, Addy pretended to lose some weird obscure divination book on dreams for two months and didn't get banned... I think you'll be okay." she said gently.

"Wait, why would she _pretend_ to lose it?" Regulus asked, shocked that he didn't know this information about his best friend.

Marlene looked at him curiously as she walked into the abandoned classroom. "What does Addy hate more than anything else?"

"Asparagus? The Chuddly Cannons? Homework? Micheal Avery?"

"Oh I'm sure she hates all those things... but she hates the library more." she said slyly, busying her self by checking under desks for the illusive book.

Regulus rolled his eyes. He should have known. "She was _trying_ to get banned, wasn't she?"

Marlene nodded. "Yep, she was so pissed that her little scheme didn't work that she went and jinxed Madam Pince's hair purple... though, personally I think it suited her." she shrugged.

"Figures..." Regulus muttered. "She stresses me out too much with all of that pranking nonsense."

Marlene peeked up from behind a desk to give him a thoughtful look. "You're a worrier."

"N-no I'm not." he said unconvincingly as he looked through a pile of other lost items piled in the corner of the room. Being a worrier was not one of the things he really wanted her to know about him just yet. He'd much rather her focus on his dashing good looks and quick intellect.

"I didn't say it as a bad thing... You worry about people... It's... nice." she said a little awkwardly. "Especially considering the whole snake thing..."

Regulus couldn't help but smile at her comment, no matter how awkwardly delivered. "I really don't even like snakes." he shrugged.

"Ah! I forgot! You prefer ducklings." she smirked.

Regulus rolled his eyes, but failed to hide his smile once more. "Dennis was delightful and you know it... But it's just birds in general really... Addy always makes fun of me for being obsessed with them..." he trailed off, internally cringing at how many times he had brought up another girl in a conversation with the girl he actually fancied. He had to stop bringing Addy up... "E-Evan and my roommates make fun of me for it too..." he said, cringing outwardly this time. Now it seemed like everyone thought he was a total weirdo. Great. Just the message you want to portray to the gorgeous girl you fancy who is already way out of your league, he thought to himself.

"People make fun of me too." she said casually, as if commenting on the weather. "They say I snog too many guys."

Regulus suddenly felt a little spark of anger towards anyone and everyone who had ever made fun of her. "Those people are idiots." he stated confidently.

"I agree." she said simply. "And for the record, I find birds the least repulsive of all the animal types." she said with a flirtatious smile, holding up a certain book on golden snidgets. "In fact, I think I'm going to hang on to this for a while... do my research."

"Are you trying to get me banned from the library, McKinnon?" he chuckled, inwardly elated that she actually found his missing book.

Marlene sat on a desktop idly thumbing through the pages. "Perhaps." she smirked, looking down at the book.

Regulus padded across the room and pulled himself up on the desktop as well, sitting beside her, shoulders brushing. "Anything I can do to make you reconsider?" he asked quietly in her ear, causing her to shiver slightly and unconsciously lean toward him, eyes still fixed on the book.

Marlene hesitated before answering and internally cursed this boy— this Slytherin boy— for making her act like a giddy fool— for making her want to kiss him, not snog, but kiss like she was some silly girl with a bad case of puppy love.

She _couldn't_ get attached to him.

She had to distance herself. She couldn't get his hopes up... he was too sweet for all of that— he didn't deserve it, even if he was a snake.

"Here... J-just take the book back." she said, shoving the book in his hands and abruptly hoping off the desk and starting toward the door, forcing herself not to look back, lest she changed her mind and ran to kiss him... or worse, hug him.

"What? Marlene, wait!" Regulus yelped, running after her. "I-I'm sorry..." he said pathetically.

Just as she reached for the door handle, Marlene paused. "You have nothing to be sorry for." she said firmly, frozen in place— unable to walk out the door, nor turn to face him, wondering what the hell was wrong with her.

"Well obviously I did something wrong to make you bolt like a fwooper around crickets." he said sincerely.

Marlene turned to face him with a smile of disbelief. "What the hell is a fwooper?

Regulus scratched the back of his neck. "It's a bird..." he chuckled sheepishly. "They don't like crickets... I have a green one...A green fwooper— not a green cricket— Addy gave it to me first year— but he has a silencing charm on him—their singing can drive people insane— literally _insane_."

Marlene momentarily forgot why she even wanted to leave, and found herself instead marveling at how much he genuinely liked birds and how adorable he was when he got all flustered and rambled. "But what happens if someone already insane listens to them? Do they go more insane or just sort of stay the same?" she asked genuinely.

Regulus looked as if he was trying very hard to keep from grinning. "I have always wondered the same thing... I tried to get Sirius to listen to it to test it out, but he's in denial of his mental state."

Marlene let out a loud laugh without even meaning to and instantly threw her hands over her mouth in surprise and slight embarrassment. This whole interaction was ruining her brooding, devil-may-care image.

Regulus tilted his head to the side and smiled softly. "Do you want to meet Merlin?" he asked.

Marlene blinked a few times, unsure if this was a joke or not... It seemed like an absurd thing ask, but he seemed quite genuine... perhaps he had listened to that crazy bird's songs more times than he was willing to admit. "Merlin?"

"Oh um... My fwooper... His name is Merlin." he chuckled, scratching the back of his neck once more.

A loud breath of relief left Marlene's lips that the boy she was in a room alone with was not crazy. However, as soon as the relief subsided, she found herself itching to leave again, subtly backing towards the door. She wasn't sure where meeting someone's bird ranked when fancying someone, but it seemed to be a very personal thing... and again, she couldn't just lead him on...

"He's really friendly— I taught him how to do some tricks too..." he trailed off seeing her odd expression.

When Marlene opened her mouth, she had every intention of turning him down and bolting away... but the words that came out, were no where close to that. "Sure, why not."

* * *

"I'm no bird expert, but I'm pretty sure that looks nothing like a fwooper." Marlene chuckled from where she was leaned against the stone walls of the dungeon, watching Regulus come out from the Slytherin common room shouldering two brooms and a pair of hats and scarves.

"Okay... so he sometimes does this thing where he hides on top of the roof..." Regulus smiled sheepishly.

"Let me guess... we're going to meet him up there?"

Regulus shrugged. "I thought it might be fun... and you did mention that you needed a distraction..."

Marlene suddenly felt a familiar lump forming in her throat as her thoughts catapulted themselves back to that morning—a distraction was just the thing she needed. "Let's go." she said quickly, walking without him toward the exit.

"Well alrighty then." he chuckled, trying to keep up with her.

Just before they reached the doors leading to a nearby courtyard, Regulus leaned the brooms against the side of the wall and smirked at the blonde's impatience.

"Why are you just standing there? I thought you were the one who wanted me to meet this stupid bird!"

"Merlin isn't stupid— and what kind of a gentleman would I be if I let a lady such as yourself wander out into the elements without something to keep warm?"

Marlene eyed the green hat and scarf in his hands with contempt. "I'm not wearing _that_." she spat, sticking her nose up in the air.

"Fine." he said airily, "You can go back to brooding all by yourself— just try not to kick any walls this time, love." he winked, wondering when the hell he started calling people 'love'.

Marlene smirked. "Oh, I'm 'love' now? You've been around your crazy brother too long. Soon you'll be giving me piggy back rides to class!"

"Nah, little soon for all that... We haven't even finished our first date." he smirked.

Marlene felt her face heat up slightly, desperate to change the subject. "Ugh, fine I'll wear the stupid scarf—"

"and the hat!" he grinned.

"No!"

"Ah! Ah! No hat, no broom... those are the rules, McKinnon..."

"Can you just change the color or something?" she asked, still eyeing the Slytherin green beanie as if it were a real live snake gearing up to bite her.

"Nope." he said shaking his head with a rather smug smile.

"Please?" she tried again, looking up at him pitifully.

"You look very cute when you do that... but you know what would look cuter?" he said, smirking as he watched her face turn a little pinker.

"You're going to say the hat, aren't you?" she said in a resigned tone.

Regulus grinned then pulled the hat over her head before she even knew what hit her, pulling it down a little too far so it covered her eyes and caused her to laugh despite herself.

"So, you think I'm _cute_?" she asked as he wrapped the scarf around her.

Regulus paused and gave her a strange look. "I think you're a lot of things, McKinnon." he said softly as he continued.

"Such as?"

Regulus smiled. "Curious."

Marlene grinned. "What else?"

"Inquisitive."

"That's basically the same thing— you have to say a different one!" she complained.

"Opinionated." he chuckled. "Impatient. Observant." he continued, smiling softly at how untroubled she looked for once. "Beautiful."

Marlene felt her cheeks flush, and knew it had nothing to do with all the extra insulation. She had been called pretty, cute, hot, fit, but no boy had ever said she was _beautiful_ , much less said it the way he did—as if he really believed it. Still, she knew she was no where near the natural beauty that Adelaide was...

"Skeptical." he said, looking almost sad as he brushed a few strands of hair out of her face.

Marlene's stomach flipped and her heart began to pound against her chest—once again she felt drawn toward him like a magnet— it was as if every part of her heart wanted to lean into his touch and to believe that he really saw her and understood her—but her mind wouldn't let her. With a shaky breath, she took a sudden step backward.

"Guarded." he said with definite disappointment letting his hand drop to his side.

"L-let's just go fly..." she said, sounding less confident than she really intended, desperate to get him to stop looking at her as if she was some particularly interesting book he was reading.

Regulus turned to grab the brooms, then walked toward the door. "As you wish."

Within minutes they were high above the castle, breathing in the crisp February air and Marlene was secretly very greatful for the hat and scarf... even if they were Slytherin colors. "So why do you have two brooms?" she asked as they perched high above the west side of the castle, eyes peeled for a certain lime green magical bird.

"Oh, I got the one you're on for Christmas. This is my old one, figured I should hang on to it just in case." he shrugged.

Marlene looked at him as if he had grown a third head. "You're letting me fly your brand new racing broom?" she asked incredulously.

"Well, yeah..." he mumbled, thankful for the wind whipping against his cheeks as they began to heat up under her intense gaze.

" _Why_?!"

"It's safer..." he said awkwardly. "It's got loads of extra protective charms on it... My dad's a little paranoid about stuff." he shrugged.

Marlene seemed mildly surprised, but let the topic go.

"Can I ask you a question?" he said hesitantly after a moment.

"You just did... but sure, go ahead."

"Why were you crying earlier today?" he asked, getting right to the point.

Marlene's hands gripped the broom a little tighter as she turned her head sharply to face him, honey blonde hair tussled by the wind. She considered lying—denying that she'd been bawling her eyes out like a small child... but something about him made her _want_ to tell him... it was the same thing that she now realized made her want to hug him as well. "I had a pretty horrible morning." she said simply.

A frown pulled at Regulus's brow. "Did something happen?"

"No." she said stiffly, with an unintended harshness to her tone. "That's sort of the problem."

Regulus paused, thinking back to Adelaide's questions that morning. "Does this have something to do with your dad?" he asked bluntly.

Marlene gave him a curious look and hesitated for a long few moments, as if she was trying to will herself to answer. "Yes." she said, looking out at the whomping willow as it tried to whack a squirrel.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked in what he hoped was a casual voice.

The girl turned to face him with glassy blue eyes. "I um... well there's not much to say, really." she said quietly, casting her gaze to what seemed to be a flash of lime green near the clock tower. "The aurors tried to save him... but they were given false information... he um... well he's still missing..."

Regulus flew a little closer to her, cool grey eyes filled with an unreadable emotion—he seemed almost guilty. "I'm sorry." he said quietly and sincerely. Those were words she was so used to hearing from teachers and anyone who had any idea of the hell she had been through—that she was going through—but when he said them, they seemed to sound different. It was as if he really was sorry, as if he blamed himself.

"You have nothing to be sorry about." she said calmly. "Let's go, I think I see him over there."

Regulus followed her toward what did in fact look to be the green little bird, but couldn't help but disagree. He had an awful lot to be sorry about.

While he introduced the beautiful girl beside him the lime green little bird, showing her all of Merlin's silly tricks, watching her face light up once again—any trace of sadness and darkness evaporated for but a moment, he couldn't help but wonder what life might have been like for them had things been different. Had she been born pureblood, or he to a family more tolerant—had he not been short listed to join the death eater ranks one day in the not so distant future—Had this not been the case, they might have had a chance at the sort of happiness for the rest of their lives.

But that was not the case... and it was only a matter of time before the world and society pulled them apart.

He _couldn't_ get attached to her.

He had to distance himself. He couldn't get her hopes up... she was too good for all of that— she didn't deserve it— she didn't deserve a snake like him.


	90. Chapter 90

**Chapter 90– Surprise**

"Lily... can you explain those muggle mover thingies again?" said Adelaide Friday morning whilst she tried to apply some mascara between her yawns.

The auburn witch, looked at Adelaide in confusion, toothbrush pausing for a moment as she tried to decipher what her pureblood friend was trying to ask. Adelaide inquiring upon muggle culture was a normal occurrence at this point, but she was still having some trouble with the terminology. "Mover thingies?" Lily repeated.

"Yeah... the photo things that move around without magic." Adelaide explained, as if this should have been obvious.

"Oh! You mean the movies!" Lily exclaimed.

"Yeah, that's what I said."

"Right... um well they tell stories... it's sort of like a play... but the actors aren't in person." Lily said.

Adelaide paused deep in thought. "But they don't know that we're watching them, right?"

Lily chuckled. "No. They don't know."

Adelaide seemed quite relieved by this fact. "And what's your favorite mover story?"

"Oh um... My favorite _movie_ is Bambi—"

"Oh Addy!" Marlene sang with a wide smirk from the bathroom door. "Look what I found! I do believe it's another one of your love notes!" she said, waving around a small lavender piece of parchment teasingly.

"Give it!" The mascara fell with a light clacking on the vanity as Adelaide clambered into the dorm room, ungracefully chasing after her, climbing on top of the honey blonde's bed, attempting to snatch the little note out of her hand. "And it's _not_ a love note!"

Lily laughed very loudly at this comment. It was most certainly a love note.

"Shut it, Lily!" the platinum blonde said fiercely. "Please just give it back!"

"No! Please read it!" Mary grinned, not even caring about the dirty look Adelaide was giving her. "The last one was pure gold!"

The whole week leading up to their big secret Valentines date at Hogsmeade that Saturday, Sirius surprised Adelaide by sticking little sweet notes in the dorm room for her to find... without the slightest idea of the amusement it brought to her dorm mates when they accidentally stumbled upon them. It was now Friday, and the girls were actively searching to find them before Adelaide. Marlene and Mary did so mostly because it annoyed Adelaide (which they found very entertaining). Lily, however, only took part in hopes that Adelaide would finally come to her senses and tell the poor lovesick boy how she felt about him.

Marlene stepped up onto her desk, far out of Adelaide's reach, and cleared her throat importantly. "Hem hem... 'Addykins, You are—"

"—STOP IT MARLS!" Adelaide roared, face red in embarrassment and frustration. She actually quite enjoyed Sirius's sweet notes until the girls decided to tease her about it.

Marlene shot Adelaide a nasty look for interrupting her. "No! 'Addykins, You are the most beautiful baboon in all the land—'" Marlene stopped abruptly to look at Adelaide. "What kind of shitty complement is that?"

"It's an inside joke!" Adelaide growled. "Please, just give it back!"

"No! I want to know where he was going with that!" Mary grinned. "Keep going!"

Marlene smirked. "Lily, should I continue?"

Lily shrugged, smiling.

"That's a yes." Marlene decided. "Alright, now where was I..."

"The baboon!" Mary cheered.

"Ah, yes, yes of course! 'You are the most beautiful baboon in all the land! I don't know what I ever did to deserve to be friends with someone as wonderful and lovely as you, much less to be given the honor of being your boyfriend—'"

"AWWWEE!" Mary squealed, beside herself with Sirius's sweetness at the same time Marlene gagged. "THAT'S SO ADORABLE!"

Lily gave Adelaide a silent, but very knowing look. "Shut up Lily." Adelaide muttered savagely, cheeks burning—she was absolutely certain she resembled a strawberry at this point.

"'—With every day that passes, I find yet another reason to adore you. You are my favorite person (don't tell James) and I promise I will one day take you to Texas to see the Armadillos in person. Siri.'" Marlene finished. "And I think this is supposed to be a drawing of you two with a bunch of armadillos..." she said, squinting her eyes and tilting her head to the side. "Is that a metaphor or something?"

"No, she just really likes Armadillos." Mary grinned. "AH! YOU TWO ARE SO CUTE I THINK I'M GOING TO DIE!" she exclaimed, dramatically flopping onto her bed. "Marls! Tell Martin to write me some notes!"

"I'm sure Evan would be more than happy to write some for you..." Adelaide said under her breath, unsuccessfully keeping her mouth from smiling at Sirius's sweet note which she had finally managed to rip out of Marlene's clutches. Mary threw a pillow at her.

"Marty isn't really the sweet note writing type..." Marlene shrugged. "But he'd probably give you a nice book or something if I asked."

Mary's smile faltered. "Oh... Um... A book is nice too, I suppose."

Adelaide still hadn't forgiven Martin after he made Mary cry that weekend (made evident by her merciless jinxing of the Ravenclaw) and didn't entirely understand why Mary was still with him... She tried, on numerous occasions, to explain to Mary that being with Martin when she still had feelings for Evan wasn't fair to the Ravenclaw sixth year... but Mary was being her usual stubborn self. Adelaide suspected that she just didn't want to be alone on Valentines day.

As for Marlene and her special Slytherin friend, Adelaide tried, in vain, to pry for information, but knew nothing beyond the fact that she hugged him that weird Saturday night— she most certainly had no idea of Marlene and Regulus's bird watching escapades that Sunday. However beyond that, there really wasn't much else to know... The two had an unspoken agreement to keep a safe distance from one another after that day, and as far as anyone else was concerned, they didn't even know each other to begin with.

Later that morning, Adelaide rushed to breakfast before the girls could catch up with her and took up her usual spot next to Sirius, a blush blooming upon her cheeks just at the memory of his kind words being dramatically read by Marlene.

"Good morning, Addykins!" Sirius smiled. "You're looking rather rosy today..." he smirked.

Adelaide hid her face in her hands and mumbled something that sounded a lot like "Shut it."

"Padfoot, at least let Addy eat her breakfast before you start accosting her with your love." Remus groaned, unintentionally making Sirius blush just as bad as Adelaide with his use of the 'L-word'.

James smirked at Sirius's discomfort before addressing the blonde at his side. "So, Addy. I think you need to take Bathsheba to your room." he said seriously.

Adelaide peaked up from her hands. "Why?"

"Because she's evil." Peter said, stabbing his fried egg a little aggressively.

James pursed his lips. "She seems to really have a thing for Wormy... and there may have been a small incident last night of her wielding a pocket knife in the air—"

"What?!" Adelaide said, face now red in anger. "She could really hurt herself with that, James!"

"Hurt _herself_?! What about _me_?! That murderous shrub of yours could have stabbed me in my sleep, Tufts!" Peter said indignantly. "Are you really putting a plant's wellbeing over your best friend?!"

Adelaide didn't really know how to answer that...

"Of course she's not." Remus said pointedly, giving Adelaide a withering look.

Sirius, wanting to steer the conversation away from Adelaide's sweet, semi-homicidal flitterbloom, looked around toward the Hufflepuff table. "Oi, Moon Moon, have you asked Amelia out yet?" he smirked. "Little late notice what with Valentines tomorrow... but I'm sure we could help you pull something togeth—"

"Please stop." Remus said more politely than Sirius really deserved. "I'm not going to ask her out."

Adelaide frowned. "Why not? You two are friends, right? And she goes to the library with you... _willingly._ That's got to be a good sign!"

Remus pinched the bridge of his nose. "Addy, for the last time, you're the only one who hates the library that much."

"I hate it too!" Sirius said rather obnoxiously.

James ignored Sirius's comment. "Still... You two seemed awful cozy at that Quidditch game a couple weeks back..." he smirked, incessantly poking the werewolf on the cheek.

"It was cold. All I did was give her a blanket. Now, would you give it a rest?!" he huffed, swatting James away. "It's not happening... Not now! Not ever!"

"I think you two would be alright together... You both love books." Peter said softly.

Remus knew Peter was just trying to be nice and therefore bit his tongue, taking a large bite of his cereal. Truth was, he very much wanted to ask Amelia out that weekend... but knew it was impossible. It would never work out in the end with him being the monster he was, so why even entertain the notion? No, it was much safer for everyone to just stay friends.

"So... Paddy, I'm assuming you and Ads will be gone the _entire_ Hogsmeade trip... _again_." James said somewhat bitterly. As much as he was thrilled in general with the idea of Adelaide and Sirius being together, it had put a real damper on their Hogsmeade excursions— All Remus and Peter ever really wanted to do was hang out at Honeydukes.

Sirius ignored James's bitter tone and gave a toothy grin, lopping an arm over Adelaide's shoulders. "Oh most definitely." he said happily, ending with a kiss on his blushing girlfriend's temple.

* * *

"Please stop pulling my hair, Sirius." Adelaide sighed in a resigned tone for what felt like the thousandth time that afternoon in Herbology. "I need to focus." She gestured to the Bubotuber swellings she was currently attending to as if to prove a point.

"But Addy... I'm bored..." Sirius whined, slumping down, resting his forehead on her shoulder. "Let's ditch and go snog in a broom closet or something." he muttered.

"Oh, how romantic." Adelaide rolled her eyes, trying to shimmy him off of her. She knew Sirius hated Herbology, but he was being even more annoying than usual.

Sirius let out a soft dog-like whine. "Stop trying to push me away, Addykins."

"I didn't even push you, you drama queen." she laughed. "I just need a little room—"

"You don't like having me next to you?" he said, looking genuinely hurt.

Adelaide frowned at his sad expression, then stood up on her tiptoes to give him a kiss on the cheek when Professor Sprout wasn't looking. This seemed to cheer him up significantly. "I _love_ having you next to me." she said quietly, "I'd just rather you not be _all over me_ during class..."

Sirius tickled her side and kissed her neck, causing her to giggle involuntarily. "Well then let's get out of class." he whispered in her ear.

"Stop it..." she said swatting him away, failing to stifle her smile. "What's up with you? You're being more needy than usual."

Sirius took a deep breath, looking into her forest green eyes with his brows all knitted together. "I'm just tired of being in this stupid stuffy greenhouse... and want it to be tomorrow already. " he said honestly with a slight pout. For the past week he had been plotting and planning every last second of their special Valentines date the next day at Hogsmeade and thought he might actually die from the anticipation.

Adelaide closed her eyes and nodded deep in thought. "Well, you know... I had a surprise for you tonight... but if you're dead set on wanting to skip forward to tomorrow, I know this Ravenclaw that has a time-turner..."

Sirius's eyes lit up. "A surprise?" he grinned. "For _me_?!"

"Mhmm..." Adelaide hummed coyly, attending to her pustule foliage. "But if you're not interested—"

"I'm interested." Sirius said immediately.

Adelaide looked up to face him with her hands on her hips. "Well then you need to stop trying to distract me." she said with the faintest of smirks.

Sirius's eyes softened as he gazed down at the sassy girl beside him. Her silly protective goggles were crooked from when she accidentally sat on them the year before, her dragon hide gloves were a little too big for her delicate hands, and she had her long, nearly white hair tied up in a ponytail that had drifted off to one side and frizzed in the humid greenhouse, but she was still the most beautiful girl he'd ever laid eyes on. He wasn't sure how, but she seemed to get prettier every day. "You're the one distracting _me_ , Addykins." he said with an odd expression.

"Excellent! Excellent work harvesting this pus, Miss Fawley!" Professor Sprout praised as she walked by, effectively ruining the moment. "You could learn a thing or two from her, Black..." she said more discreetly, elbowing the boy and getting dirt on his robes.

Adelaide blushed at her complement and mumbled a thank you to the professor as she walked away.

As soon as the spriggy Professor wandered off to help Mary and Marlene (who were a having very difficult time collecting their own pus), Sirius turned to Adelaide, looking more like an excitable puppy than usual. "Sooo... what's the surprise?" Sirius grinned, bouncing on the balls of his feet.

Adelaide laughed, watching his hair (which she tied up into a little bun so it would stay out of his eyes during class) bob in his excitement. "I can't tell you—'Not knowing' is the fundamental nature of a surprise, Padfoot." Adelaide said, sounding more know-it-all-ish than she was really intending whilst she scooted a plant in front of him in an effort to get him to actually work

Sirius ignored the plant entirely and instead looked down at her with heartbreakingly pitiful puppy dog eyes. "Can I at least have a hint?"

"Stop that." she said huffily, turning away from him abruptly, upset that his charms were actually working on her.

"Stop what, Addykins?" he said, feigning innocence.

Adelaide spared a fleeting glance up at him, and instantly regretted it when she found that his puppy dog eyes had intensified. "Ugh! It's a secret, Sirius! If I tell you it'll ruin the whole thing!" she said, squeezing her eyes shut.

"Can't I have just a little bitty hint?" he asked sweetly.

"No." she said in as firm a voice as she could manage when he kissed her cheek.

"Please Addykins... I'll give you a hint about tomorrow if you do..." he practically purred.

Adelaide peaked open an eye. "Liar."

"Okay, maybe I won't... but please just tell me _something_! I'm dying over here!"

Adelaide sighed. What would it hurt to tell him just a little hint? "Okay... fine... I'll throw you a bone..." she smirked as he grinned. "It involves—"

Adelaide's words were drowned out when Marlene butted into their conversation, smirking per usual. "Oi Addy! I absolutely _adore_ the way you've collected that pus of yours!" she sniggered. "Black, I dunno what you ever did to deserve a Herbology partner as _wonderful_ and _lovely_ as her!"

Sirius gave Adelaide a quizzical look of amusement and watched a violent blush bloom across her cheeks at the familiar words. "Your guess is as good as mine, McKinnon." he grinned.

"She's the most beautiful Baboon in all the land!" Mary cackled loudly, dodging the fistful of dirt Adelaide threw at her.

Sirius chuckled. "I couldn't agree more, McDonald—ack! Pleh! Addy don't throw dirt at me! I was complementing you!" he complained whilst he sputtered said dirt and manure out of his mouth and brushed it off of his person. "Great... now I smell like dragon dung..."

"I think it's an improvement..." James sniggered from afar.

A loud unbridled laugh rang from where Lily was working. She instantly blushed and looked pointedly down at her own plant when James beamed at her, clearly proud that he had some part in making her smile.

"I couldn't agree more, Prongsy..." Adelaide giggled as she helped her stinky boyfriend brush the dirt off of his robes.

* * *

That evening at dinner, long after the end of classes that day, Regulus sat at the Slytherin table with an excruciatingly good view of the Gryffindor table. Regulus was only vaguely listening to Avery and Dolohov's rather annoying conversation (which mostly consisted of Avery bragging about some mysterious, most likely made up, mission from Riddle)— thoughts focused instead on a certain honey blonde.

His heart was tempestuously tossed between a variety of emotions as he watched Marlene's light expression from across the hall. She was like a golden beacon of light drawing him in closer and closer. He longed to know the most mundane and useless things about her. How did she drink her tea? What was her favorite color? Did she have a favorite flower? He wondered if she had a nice day, what she was laughing about with her friends (whatever it was seemed to make Adelaide blush red as a strawberry which he found quite amusing)— and most of all, he wondered if she missed his company as much as he missed hers...

Adelaide had just run off down the table to speak with Jack Middleton when Marlene's enchanting deep blue eyes met his for the first time since that weekend. His heart thumped hard against his chest and his stomach fluttered with the force of a thousand thunderbirds. Then, as if she knew how much a look from her could affect him, she gave him a small, but genuine smile that he returned without even realizing it, cheeks heating up ever so slightly.

"You look awful happy, Black..." Avery sniggered from across the table. "Pining after your future wife again?"

Regulus rolled his eyes at the boy's overused taunt. "You're the one obsessed with Adelaide, not me." he drawled in a bored tone.

"I am _not_!" Avery snapped as Dolohov sniggered. "I can't _stand_ her!"

"You do bring her up a fair bit, mate." Mulciber said honestly.

"Because she's—she's just a disgrace! Traipsing around with those blood traitors!" Avery sputtered furiously. "She's just awful!"

"I dunno, I think she's tolerable enough... and she's got to have her priorities somewhat in place if she's friends with Reg," Dolohov shrugged, nodding to the boy across from him. "And Madge... and Rosier—"

"It means nothing. She's still a mudblood lover..." Avery grumbled.

"I still say it's all a ruse. Her being put in that house and all— I bet you anything that she's a spy for the Dark Lord." said Wilkes.

Avery scoffed. "Don't be an idiot Wilkes. The Dark Lord only likes her because he thinks she can do wandless magic."

"She _can_ do wandless magic." Mulciber muttered under his breath.

Avery shot him a dirty look for even saying such a thing, even though he knew he was right... after all he'd seen it... she was brilliant. Terrifying. But brilliant.

Regulus, annoyed with the conversation about his best friend, excused himself from the table. With one last fleeting glance toward the honey blonde across the room, he wandered outside to the courtyard to clear his head.

He sat down upon a cold stone bench in the nippy February air, stars glowing in the cloudless sky above, and ran his hands through his hair, staring at the cobbled pavement below, imagining the future he wished he could have... He'd be a magizoologist, that would be certain, traveling around the world studying new species of magical birds... perhaps he'd even meet Newt Scamander himself. Maybe he'd write a few books, marry a pretty girl— a pretty blonde girl... start a family... Whatever he did, he would be happy, he decided. Deliriously happy and full of possibility—free to make his life whatever he wanted it to be.

But that wasn't a future fate had in store for him.

Voldemort would have no use in his army for a boy who studied birds... And a boy in his army had no reason to marry, much less start a relationship with anyone he cared about. It would only lead to heartbreak in the end—

 _quack._

Regulus jerked his head up and was startled to find himself eye to eye with a small fluffy duckling.

"You looked sad." Marlene stated matter-of-factly, placing Dennis in Regulus's hands and sitting beside him.

"I-I was just thinking." he said quietly, petting the duck, heart pounding just having her so close to him.

Marlene gave him a long analyzing look. "Thinking about sad things." she stated once more.

Regulus lifted his gaze to meet hers for the second time that day. "I suppose." he said softly, pausing for a moment. "I was imagining what it would be like to never talk to you again."

"Well that's not sad..." she said with a soft smirk. "That's tragic."

A breathy chuckle escaped Regulus's lips. "It is indeed..."

Marlene took a deep breath and gave him a once over, something odd in her expression, as if she was wrestling within herself. "You know what you need?" she said at last, bumping shoulders with him. "A distraction."

* * *

"Addy... Is it time for the surprise yet?" Sirius whined for the billionth time as he carried her up the stairs to Gryffindor Tower after dinner.

Adelaide gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. "Not yet..."

"But you said tonight, Ads! It's night time!"

Adelaide chuckled slightly. "Relax, we just have to grab the cloak and stuff before we go—"

Without so much as a word of warning, the portraits of the great hall passed by in a blur as Sirius bounded toward Gryffindor tower faster than Remus when he was late for class.

"Good merlin..." Adelaide said as she leaped off of his back as quick as she could, relieved to have her feet firmly planted on the floor of the boys dorm. "I think I've got your hopes up a little too high with this whole thing..." she said uneasily, watching him tear through James's trunk for the map and invisibility cloak. At first she thought her plan would be entertaining... but now his excitement seemed quite out of place for the relatively simple excursion she had planned for them.

Sirius quickly found their sneaky supplies and was shoving James's belongings back into the trunk. "I'm sure I'll like what ever you come up with, Ads." he said honestly. "And if it is a bust, we can just snog in the secret room." he shrugged casually. Adelaide nodded, trying to remind herself that he was right... as long as he got to kiss her, it wouldn't matter how sucky her surprise was. "Okay, I think we've got everything we need... can we go now!?" he asked with a big happy puppy smile.

Adelaide giggled at his enthusiasm. "Almost. You need to change into something more comfortable."

Sirius tilted his head to the side in confusion. "Why?"

"Because I said so." she said bossily, heading toward the door.

"Hey! Where're you going!?"

"I'll be right back! Relax!"

Sirius grumbled, but changed, just as she commanded. Within five minutes, Adelaide returned, wearing a big Led Zeppelin jumper (previously owned by Sirius) and some sweatpants, with her charmed handbag around her wrist and a broom in her hand. "Okie-dokie! Time to go!" she chirped with a smile that made Sirius's heart flutter.

"We're flying?" he laughed in disbelief.

Adelaide walked in determination toward the window, then looked over her shoulder with a cheeky smile. "Well... We have to fly to get where we're going."

Sirius smiled wide as he raced to grab his broom, and within seconds the two were in the sky, zooming high into the cloudless night as laughs tumbled from their lips. Adelaide led the way, zipping around turrets with her hair blowing wildly back behind her, until finally she slowed down, approaching a small open-air circular tower, large enough to fit only a few people comfortably, topped with a grand spire. Sirius was surprised to find that there were no stairs or doors leading to it... the landing seemed to only be accessible by flight.

Sirius laughed in disbelief once he'd landed, taking in the breathtaking view of the starry sky above. "This is brilliant, Addy! How'd you find it?"

Adelaide smiled proudly. "I just stumbled upon it while flying the other day." she said, trying to sound casual as a blush crept up her cheeks at his approval. "Okay. Now you have to close your eyes while I get everything situated."

Sirius had no idea what there was to be situated, but did as he was told, squirming around as he did so. He was dying to know what else she had up her sleeve.

Finally, after a very long minute or two, Adelaide gave the okay for him to look at her handiwork. Sirius's eager eyes flew open, drinking in the sight before him. Upon the floor of the tower was a squashy pallet of sorts with cozy blankets and pillows strewn about, several delicious smelling treats, snacks, and drinks were stacked near a stone wall where they stowed away the brooms, and floating candles surrounded them, light washing over the entire space giving it a warm glow.

Finally, Sirius's gaze drifted to Adelaide, seated in the center of the pallet, biting her lip and twiddling her fingers. "So... what do you think?" she asked, unsure of how to take his bemused expression. "Do you— do you like it?"

"This. Is. BRILLIANT!" Sirius beamed, practically tacking Adelaide as he bounced down beside her. "You are— the best— most brilliant— most perfect— girl— on the— planet!" Sirius said between his kisses all over Adelaide's blushing face, cupping her face in his hands so that she couldn't get away.

Adelaide giggled as she tried to push him away. "Yes, yes I know I'm lovely. But we haven't even got to the best part!" she laughed.

"You're the best part." he said with a cheeky smile, tucking her hair behind her ear and kissing her neck.

"Down boy." she laughed, pushing him away. "Let me just show you the last part then—"

"Then I get to kiss you?" he said hopefully.

Adelaide smiled as she rolled her eyes. "Yes. Then you get to kiss me."

* * *

As Marlene tugged Regulus by the hand through the castle grounds, she tried very hard to ignore the little nagging voice in the back of her mind that insisted upon listing the reasons why this was a very bad idea, and instead focused on how lovely it was to have her little forbidden Slytherin all to herself.

"Come on, just a little further—"

"I really don't think this is a good idea, McKinnon... It's getting late, we could miss curfew... and it's really not safe to be in the forest at night... or anytime for that matter..." Regulus said uneasily as they neared a grassy clearing within the dark forest. The wind shuttered through the trees while unseen creatures rustled the branches... He felt as if they were being watched...

Marlene rolled her eyes. "Don't be such a scaredy snake." she smirked, coming to a stop and plopping herself upon the grassy ground.

"I'm not scared!" Regulus defended. "I just don't want us to get in trouble..." _or die_ , he thought.

Marlene sighed in exasperation then grabbed his hand once more to pull him down beside her. "Do you trust me?" she asked seriously.

Regulus was rendered momentarily speechless by the intensity of her sapphire eyes boring into his own. "Am I supposed to?"

Her lips quirked into a small smirk. "Tonight you are." she said giving his hand a squeeze before letting go. "Alright, now lay down—"

"What?"

"I said, lay down." Marlene reiterated, demonstrating by laying on her back, face pointed toward the perfect cloudless sky.

"Why?" Regulus asked uneasily.

Marlene sighed. "It's part of the distraction. Now, lay down." Regulus didn't move. "I promise you won't get attacked by some big scary forest creature."

With one last annoyed look at the girl Regulus finally leaned back, matching her position, thankful for the warming charms he insisted they cast before wandering out to this silly spot. "Okay, now what?"

"Now, you need to close your eyes..." she said serenely, closing her own.

Regulus grumbled a bit under his breath, but then finally said, "They're closed."

"Alright, now I want you to take a deep breath..." she said just before breathing in the crisp air around them, listening as Regulus did the same. "and let it out... Now breathe in again... and breathe out... once more, in... and out... Now, I want you to imagine that you are not you. Right now... in this moment, you are just a little speck of stardust, floating around in the galaxy. There's nothing holding you back, nothing pulling you forward... no responsibilities or expectations... your only job is to simply exist amongst the stars... to be a witness to their beauty... Now, open your eyes."

Marlene's eyes fluttered open as she said those last words to the glittering, twinkling expanse of space above them. Her breath was calm and steady as the movements of the planets, and her body felt light and untroubled as if it were floating through space... a feeling that ironically, always grounded her when her life was spinning out of control. After a few moments of celestial relaxation, a warm hand found its way to hers, fingers blindly intertwining themselves. "So... how do you feel?" she asked gently.

"Weightless." Regulus said softly, hand squeezing hers ever so slightly.

Marlene squirmed her hand away, resting it on her stomach. "That's how my dad used to describe it."

Regulus pulled his eyes away from the sky, turning to face the girl beside him. She didn't look upset, per say... but perhaps a little melancholy. He wasn't entirely sure how to respond.

"He came up with it... said sometimes the best way to make sense of the big picture was to make yourself small." she said, eyes still trained on the stars above. "Thought it might help with whatever was bothering you..."

"It did." Regulus said softly, eyes still trained on her. "Thank you."

Marlene rolled on her side to face him, finding herself much closer to his face than she really intended, but not having the strength to move away. "You're welcome..." she said in just above a whisper, eyes flickering down to his lips. "Um... You know... It really would be tragic... not talking to you again..."

"An utter travesty..." he agreed, heart rate rising from its serenity only minutes ago. All he wanted was to close the distance between them... to kiss her and make her understand just how damn wonderful she was... but instead he sat up, leaning back with his hands propping him up. "Um... How do you drink your tea?" he asked a little awkwardly.

Marlene laughed and sat up as well. "I like it black." she said giving him a wink.

"Oh... erm... D-do you have a favorite flower?" he asked, willing himself to play it cool.

"Gardenias." she said simply, amused by his questioning. "Anything else you'd like to know?"

"Erm... Yes, actually." he said with a sheepish smile, scratching the back of his neck. "Favorite color?"

"Black." she smirked. "But blue is nice too..."

"What's your favorite breakfast food?" he continued with a smile.

"French toast with extra powdered sugar."

"Favorite candy?"

Marlene looked down, inspecting her nails, trying to hide the smile on her face. "Pumpkin Pasties."

"Favorite Slytherin?" he smirked.

"Ooof... that's a tough one." she said, looking up to face him, leaning forward slightly. "Probably have to be Horace Slughorn—" she smirked.

"You little liar!" Regulus laughed, nudging her shoulder.

"It's true! I've got a real thing for the whole walrus look!" she laughed. "Ooo you give me a boy with a mean mustache and a bald head and I'm a total goner!"

Regulus rolled his eyes dramatically.

"I suppose you're a close second though." Marlene shrugged with a sly look.

"What an honor." he said with an amused smile.

"So... what about you? How do you drink _your_ tea?"

"Two sugars." he answered, admiring her smile and the little freckles on her nose.

"How sweet... Favorite color? Wait! Let me guess... green?"

"Correct." he laughed.

"Um... so why are you so interested in birds?" she asked, genuinely curious to know.

Regulus gave her a funny look then glanced up at the stars above. "I think I've always liked how free they are... They can just jump in the air and fly off wherever they please... I suppose I envy them in a way."

His was a much more thoughtful answer than Marlene was really expecting... but she couldn't help but envy them herself when he put it like that. She also couldn't help but see that sad look from before return to his face. "What were you really thinking about when I found you?"

Regulus moved his gaze back to hers and hesitated. "I already told you." he answered honestly.

Even in the faint light of the half moon above, a blush was clearly visible on Marlene's face.

A tree rustled somewhere nearby, pulling Regulus out of his silent admiration for the blonde in front of him. "It's late." he said, glancing down to his watch. "We really should head back."

And with that he rose to his feet and reached down to give the blonde a hand up.

* * *

"NO! No no no! You can't do that!" Adelaide yelped, pointing at the game board in exasperation. "You _can't!"_

Sirius flashed a smug smile from where he sat opposite her, waving around a folded piece of paper. "I can too! Says it right here in the rules—"

Adelaide wandlessly set the paper into flames, ashes falling into a little pile beside him and floating away in the light breeze of the tower.

"Now you're just being rude." he tutted, rolling his eyes.

"I'm sick of this stupid muggle game." she grumbled, turning away to pout.

"Well if you're sick of the game... we can always—"

"—and I'm not in the mood to kiss you anymore." she huffed, nose in the air.

Sirius seemed to take this as a challenge rather than an outright refusal and quickly packed up the weird muggle Monopoly game of Lily's and scooted closer to Adelaide. "Love... I'm sorry I made you go bankrupt..."

"You should be." she grumbled. "I would have won, you know..."

"I'm sure you would have..." he lied, kissing her cheek. "Can I make it up to you?" he asked sweetly.

Adelaide dramatically flopped onto a pile of pillows and muttered incomprehensibly.

"Sorry, I didn't quite catch that, Addykins." he laughed as he played with her hair.

"I said stop being so damn adorable when I'm mad at you."

"You think I'm adorable?" he chuckled, flopping down beside her, grinning. He looked entirely too cute.

"Stop it!" she complained shoving a pillow in his face.

"Addy! Come on! It was just a silly game—"

"A silly game you cheated at!"

"I told you I didn't cheat! I'd prove it if you didn't set the bloody rules on fire! — Nice job with that by the way, you've really improved on your—"

"No! Stop that! Don't complement me when I'm mad at you!"

"Ugh! Addy, what do you want me to do?"

Adelaide looked him in the eyes with a frightfully stern expression. "I want you to admit that you cheated."

"But I didn't cheat!"

(He did cheat)

"Do you want to kiss me or not?" she pouted.

Sirius took a very deep breath. "I admit that... you think I cheated— Ow! Fine! You're right! I cheated! I cheated!" he yelped, rubbing the spot where she thwacked him on the arm.

"Ha! I knew it!" she said loudly, looking much too happy as she pulled herself closer to him, going in for a triumphant kiss.

"No! I don't feel like kissing you anymore." Sirius said with a dramatic pout, turning his face away.

"Liar." Adelaide grinned peppering his cheek with kisses.

"Stop it you temptress!" he huffed, trying very hard not to smile.

Adelaide sighed loudly as she twirled his soft black hair in her fingers. "Well, if you don't want to kiss me anymore... I suppose we should just get this all packed up and head back to—" her words were cut off by Sirius's lips crashing into hers.

"I changed— my mind." he said against her lips, smirking slightly, one hand on her cheek and the other pulling her closer by the waist.

Adelaide giggled and pulled away after a moment to catch her breath, forehead rested on his. "You sure? We could always have a rematch—"

Sirius cut her off once again. "No thank you." he murmured as his lips captured hers once more. At first everything was light hearted as they both melted against one another, but somewhere along the line... something changed. Soon their kisses became deeper and more desperate. Adelaide's lips moved against his with such tender urgency... as if she had something very important to say, but very little time to say it. Sirius held her close, as if he was afraid she would slip away from his arms at any second, and that if he didn't communicate the depth of his feeling in that moment, he might never be able to again.

Dizzy and breath heavy, Adelaide shivered as his warm lips drifted down her jaw to her neck and began to nibble and suck in just the spot to drive her crazy. "Please don't leave a mark." she mumbled a little incoherently after a while.

Sirius broke away quickly making Adelaide let out a soft whine from the loss of warmth. He looked down at the little bruise beginning to bloom against her pale skin, then glanced up at her like a guilty dog. "Shit... Sorry, Ads..."

Adelaide's hand reached for her neck mostly out of instinct… then she groaned as she flopped away and hid her face in a nearby pillow.

Sirius snuggled up beside her, pulling his dismayed girlfriend toward him. "I'm really sorry, Addy... I didn't mean to..."

"I know you didn't..." she murmured, nuzzling into his chest. "It's just that… Marlene already teases me... This'll just add fuel to the fire..."

"Marlene?" Sirius repeated in confusion, pulling away to look at her properly, feeling another twinge of guilt as he caught sight of his handiwork. "I thought you two were friends?"

"We are... she just likes to push my buttons when it comes to you... I know she's only doing it for a laugh... But it's—it's just really embarrassing..." she said, not even wanting to make eye contact.

Sirius brushed the hair away from her eyes. He knew all too well how sensitive Adelaide could get about teasing. One of the few things he never quite understood about her was why she let the opinions of others affect her so much. "Can't you just tell her to knock it off?"

Adelaide shrugged, eyes still firmly fixed on the fabric of Sirius's shirt which she was idly fiddling with.

"Would it help if I jinxed her for you?" he said with a half smile, trying to ease the tension.

Adelaide cracked a smile, forest green eyes looking into his at long last. "Maybe."

Her smile, that infectious smile of hers, always made Sirius want to grin like an idiot; and her eyes, those green eyes flecked with subtle swirling blues and yellows, they made him feel as if he were the only person on earth. He was starting to realize that while she was most certainly the prettiest creature he'd ever beheld, it was her heart that made her beautiful. She was strong yet tender hearted, brilliant yet humble. She was nearly as flawed and scarred as him, but it only made her that much more incredible. That someone could go through all the horrific and traumatic things she had... and still smile the way she did, still look at him with such kindness... it seemed impossible.

In that fleeting moment, with her smiling up at him in the warm light of enchanted candles, the smell of cookies (baked by Jack Middleton) being blown by them by the wind flowing through the tower windows, stars twinkling down upon them, Sirius wanted nothing more than to tell his bestest best friend how much he cared for her— how much she meant to him.

"Addy..." Sirius said quietly, mustering up every possible ounce of strength he had within him as his thumb gently stroked her soft cheek. "You are the best thing that's ever happened to me and I..." his breath caught in his throat from nerves... though he wasn't sure what he had to be nervous about. He'd said the bloody words enough times by accident after all. "I-um..."

Adelaide's brows furrowed, unsure of what he was trying to say. "You okay, Siri?" she asked in concern. He looked like he was going to be sick.

"I'm fine... better than fine... I-I um—" he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Just say it, dammit! "Addy, I lov—"

The sound of a scream emanating from somewhere far below them broke through his confession.

Adelaide and Sirius's heads both snapped in the direction from whence it came. Again the terrified scream cried out.

Adelaide got up to move, wand flicking and instantly sending every blanket, pillow, and snack zooming into the handbag as Sirius went after the brooms with his own wand in hand.

The second her handbag was secure, the two flew down through the darkness toward the direction of the scream, heightened animagi senses on high alert.

"What the fu—?!"

"Are those spiders?!" Adelaide asked incredulously, wind whipping against her face as they approached the scene of the action.

"R-REG?!" Sirius screamed in a panic, praying that his eyes were deceiving him in the darkness of light.

But they were not deceiving him in the least. Regulus and Marlene were in a small clearing in the dark forest, shooting spell after spell at three very large and rather hairy spiders who were becoming more and more agitated that their late night snacks were putting up such a fight.

"Regulus, I'm sorry I lied!" Marlene panted. " _Stupefy_!"

"Next time I'm picking where we have our bloody— _expelliarmus_!—date, McKinnon!"

"In my defense—" Marlene shot a jelly legs jinx that only hit one of the spiders legs and making it all wobbly. "—I didn't think a pack of spiders were going to come barging in— _Flipendo!_ — And it wasn't a date!"

"CAN YOU TWO PLEASE STOP BICKERING SO WE CAN RESCUE YOU?!" Sirius bellowed from above.

Both Marlene and Regulus looked up in relief.

" _INCARCEROUS_!" Adelaide screamed, wand pointed at the biggest of the spiders as it tried to shoot a web at Regulus when he wasn't looking. Ropes shot out from Adelaide's wand and wrapped themselves around the spiders legs making it fall over with a loud thump, desperately squirming to break free.

"How _dare_ you, filthy human!" hissed another spider, clicking her pinchers loudly so as to fully express her displeasure for Adelaide. Another web shot through the air toward her, whooshing past her face as she dodged it just in time.

Sirius took this attack on her very personally. "OH _HELL_ NO! NOT MY GIRLFRIEND YOU STUPID BUG!" he screamed indignantly, eyes dangerous as he wordlessly stunned the spider unconscious with the mere force of his spell.

"Nice one, Sirius!" Adelaide cheered proudly.

The last spider wisely came to the conclusion that this meal was much more trouble than it was really worth and fled the scene.

Adelaide swooped down and pulled Marlene onto the back of her broom as Sirius did the same with Regulus.

"Thanks for the—" Marlene began.

"Shush!" Adelaide snapped. "Sirius, do we know where Filch is?" she asked, pulling up beside him.

Siris checked his watch. "Shit... He's gonna be on the ground floor for the next half-hour at least—We can take them back to the dorm?" he suggested.

"I'm not going to your stupid dorm." Regulus grumbled. "Please just put me down—"

"Shush!" Adelaide hissed to the boy. "We could take them there then walk him down with the cloak."

"The cloak is supposed to be a secret, Ads!" said Sirius.

"Well then we'll just be really sneaky—"

"Bloody hell! Just put us down on the ground!" Marlene groaned. "Hey, Ads what's this on your neck—"

"Down it is!" Adelaide said quickly, diving downward, nearly giving Marlene whiplash.

"Can someone please explain how the hell you two got yourselves in that mess?" Sirius said once they landed just beyond the forest edge, walking back toward the castle as Adelaide hid on the other side of him, trying her best to cover her neck with her hair.

"We went out for a walk." Marlene said, sounding a little irritated to explain herself.

"You went for a walk in the freaking forbidden forest?!" Adelaide said shrilly making Marlene roll her eyes.

Regulus shot his companion a look, trying to wordlessly tell her to let him do the explaining. "We were just looking at the stars, Ads. She was helping me with Astronomy—"

"—I could have helped you with Astronomy." Sirius said shortly, sensing that his brother was lying.

"But you aren't as pretty as Marlene..." Adelaide sniggered under her breath causing Sirius to smirk just slightly.

"...So you two were on a study date or something?"

"It was not a date!" Marlene snapped fiercely.

Regulus pinched the bridge of his nose. "Look, we were just looking at the bloody stars, having a nice chat and all of a sudden a bunch of giant talking spiders surrounded us—"

"—perhaps they wanted in on the _nice chat_ you were having." Sirius snickered with Adelaide.

"So what were _you two_ doing?! Huh?" Marlene said defensively.

"We were just having pleasant evening together." Sirius bit back at the surly girl. "And you know, I'd really act a bit more grateful if I were you. If we hadn't showed up in time to save your arses, you'd both be dead." he said with a bit more ferocity than really necessary… Between her upsetting his Adelaide with her teasing, and nearly getting her killed by some stupid oversized bug, his protectiveness was in full swing.

A tense silence fell over the four as they shuffled across the grounds back toward the castle.

"Thank you." Regulus said finally breaking the silence between them.

"You're welcome." Adelaide said quietly for the both of them as they approached the castle.

"Alright, we're flying back up to the dorms… You two can either fly with us or take your chances trying to get back on your own…" Sirius said standing closer to Adelaide.

"I think we'll take our chances…" Marlene said carefully. "I mean, we've already fought off full grown acromantulas tonight— outrunning that wheezing git Filch should be no problem."

Regulus couldn't help but snort a laugh at her logic. "I mean, she has a point." he said, really not wanting her to call him a scaredy snake again.

Adelaide and Sirius both looked between them like protective parents. "Suit yourselves." Sirius shrugged just before he and Adelaide kicked off the ground and raced each other to the window of the Gryffindor boys dorm.

Regulus and Marlene stood alone in the front courtyard of the castle, very near the spot where their weird night had begun—Both thinking what a strange bonding experience fighting off a few bloodthirsty arachnids could be.

Marlene opened her mouth to speak, words dying on their way out. What was there to say? What wasn't there to say?

"I had fun with you tonight." Regulus said softly.

"I almost got us eaten by giant spiders." Marlene laughed in disbelief.

Regulus shrugged as he smiled. "It was a pretty good distraction."

Marlene couldn't help but admire his kindness. Her stupid plan to wander into the forest nearly killed him and yet here he was making her feel better about it. "I feel like the bar's been set pretty high now… next time we'll have to go pick a fight with some dragons or something."

Regulus's heart both soared and sank at the words 'next time'. "I'm game if you are." he shrugged with a sly smile.


	91. Chapter 91

**Chapter 91–I Find You Quite Fetching**

On the evening of Saturday February 14th, Lily Evans was snuggled up beside the common room fire, wearing her cozy deer patterned socks, wrapped up in a comfy pink blanket that Remus had been kind enough to crochet for her for Christmas that year, reading her favorite book while she sipped jasmine tea from a big warm mug. As far as Valentines Days went, this one had been by far one of the best.

She opted out of going to Hogsmeade (much to Severus and Marlene's dismay) and instead holed up in the library for much of the day. By lunch she had tutored four different first years in charms, three second years in potions, and finished all her homework and assignments due for at least the next week. By dinner, she had read ahead in nearly every subject, sent an application in for a summer internship at Saint Mungo's, and managed to keep the flower petal of hers to remain transfigured into a fish for a full half hour. All in all, a very satisfying day.

The best part of her day, however, was that James Potter had not annoyed her once.

Unfortunately, that was about to change.

The messy hair boy leaped over the back of the couch and landed with a bounce that sent Lily's Jasmine tea sloshing in its mug and nearly sent her book flying out of her hands... needless to say, the green eyed girl was less than enthused by his company.

A loud sigh escaped her lips as she marked her place in her book and closed it. "Potter, what a lovely surprise..."

James gave her a crooked grin as he mussed up the back of his hair. "You find my presence lovely, eh Evans? Good to know…" he said reaching his arm over the back of the couch like he owned it.

Lily rolled her eyes. "Is there a reason behind your _lovely_ presence?"

"Do I need a reason? Maybe I just fancy sitting in this particular spot." he smirked, inching closer.

Lily scooted a little further away, taking care to cover her socks. "Can you please go away?" she grumbled politely.

James ignored this comment. "Say, what's this book you're always reading?" he asked, reaching to grab said book out of her lap before she had a chance to put up a fight.

"Ugh! Give it back!" she complained, reaching in vain to retrieve her stolen property.

"Pride and Prejudice." he recited, flipping to the first page, blatantly ignoring Lily's protests. "' _It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.'"_ read he with a very sophisticated accent before snorting a laugh. "This is funny!"

Lily's face turned a little pink. "Yes, it's a very nice book... which is why I would like it back!" she huffed snatching it out of his hands at last. "Now, since you refuse to vacate the couch I'm going go upstairs." she said as she gathered her belongings.

"Wait!" he yelped in earnest. "Don't go! I really did have something important to tell you." he said seriously.

Lily tentatively sat back in her seat. "Well go on then..." she sighed, expecting him to ask her out once again.

"Okay, so you know how Addy and Sirius had that stupid special date or whatever today?"

Lily's face contorted in a mix of confusion and exasperation. _This_ was the important thing he had to tell her? "Uh... yeah?"

"Alright, so they were out having a ball... _without me_... hanging out and eating chocolates from their admirers—"

"What?" Lily had absolutely no clue where he was going with this little tale.

James misinterpreted her confusion. "Oh, they got loads of candy and junk from all these tossers who refuse to acknowledge that they're in love or whatever." he explained quickly (it certainly did not escape Lily's notice that he used the term' in love'). "... anyway, back to the point. They were gabbing away at the three broomsticks and were going to eat candy from this one box that Sirius got from some girl named Lydia that Addy hates, but Sirius insisted that it smelled like lavender or something weird and thought it was best to give it to Peter—"

"James... why are you telling me all of this?" Lily asked in exasperation, wondering how he knew so many details when he supposedly wasn't there and why he deemed them important enough to share.

"Lilith, please just let me finish." he said solemnly, raising a hand to quiet her. "So, as I was saying, they wound up eating chocolates that some poor Hufflepuff sap gave Addy, when Sirius comes across this one chocolate that had walnuts in it. So he gives it to Addy, but Addy wouldn't eat it because it had the walnuts in it—she's a terribly picky eater, as you probably know all too well. I swear getting her to eat her vegetables is like pulling teeth—"

"James, I really don't see how any of this is—"

"So she puts up a little fight about how she wouldn't eat the stupid thing, which naturally only made Sirius want to make her eat it more, so he asks if she's even eaten a walnut before and she danced around the question for a bit before finally admitting she hadn't, but that she just knew they were awful. So then—"

"Wait... She'd never eaten a walnut before?" Lily asked in surprise, internally scolding herself for getting sucked into his ridiculous account of someone else's date.

"Nope. Never eaten one." he answered. "Which is a little odd now that I think about it, but I mean... it's Addy, so I guess it's not that strange..."

Lily laughed a bit. "Her diet consists of mainly mashed potatoes and oatmeal."

James grinned. "Very fibrous though— Anyway, so when Sirius found out that she hadn't actually had a walnut before he starts trying to literally force her into eating the chocolate, which was all good fun at first. But then things took a rather unexpected turn..."

"Let me guess, she really was a fan of walnuts." Lily said, once again hating herself for going along with all of this nonsense.

"I wish..." he said with genuine remorse. "You see... Walnuts, as it turns out... aren't a big fan of Addy."

Lily unconsciously scooted a bit closer, worried when James's face made a more serious turn. It was much like the face he made whenever he was explaining one of the Marauder's injuries to her after a full moon. "I-I don't understand..."

"Well... Apparently, Addy's actually really _really_ allergic to Walnuts—"

Lily gasped, forgetting about the tea in her hands— it would have fallen to the floor if James hadn't grabbed it. "WHAT?! Where is she?! Is she okay!?"

James carefully set the tea on the coffee table. "She's at the hospital wing and Poppy said she should be okay by morning... but Sirius is just a mess. Blames himself for nearly suffocating her to death—"

"Oh my goodness! But he— he couldn't have known that would happen!" Lily said, heart hurting just thinking of how awful that must have been for both of them.

"That's what I told him!" James exclaimed. "But he just won't listen! Moony's there trying to calm him down... but I just thought... maybe you could talk to him? The stuff Poppy gave Addy knocked her out cold and he literally won't listen to any of us... but he respects you, and he knows you care about Addy... So I just thought maybe..."

"Of course I'll talk to him!" Lily said emphatically.

James looked at her with soft eyes and a genuine smile as he pushed his lopsided glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Thank you, Lily."

* * *

Just before Lily and James reached the infirmary that evening, the two ran across what seemed to be a rather silly looking Peter Pettigrew. He was waltzing (badly) with an imaginary girl, humming My Funny Valentine (off key), with a goofy love sick smile.

"Pete?" James laughed. "Whatcha got going on over here?"

"I'm in love, Prongs!" he sighed with a smile. "I am unconditionally and irrevocably in loooove…" he sang.

"Who's the lucky girl?" Lily asked, trying very hard to not laugh.

"Lydia... Lydia Green." Peter answered as he twirled (nearly losing his footing and falling on his face).

James face palmed and groaned. "Mate, I think you may have had a love potion—"

"No prongs!" Peter retaliated. "I'M IN LOVE! Just like you are with Lily!"

Both James and Lily's faces turned a bit pink.

"Peter, how about we get you to see Madam Pomfrey—" Lily began gently as she slowly moved toward him.

"No!" Peter said childishly, shaking his head with his arms crossed over his chest. "I'm going to go find Lydia and tell her how wonderful she is!" he said just before bolting down the hallway.

"Really?" James moaned. "Evans, do you mind...?"

"You run after him, I can talk to Sirius on my own." she said kindly.

"You're the best Lilith!" he grinned as he raced after his pudgy love sick friend and Lily rolled her eyes.

* * *

The lamp beside Adelaide's hospital bed illuminated the dim and all but abandoned infirmary with a homey warmth. Apart from the soundly sleeping, flush-faced girl, the only other occupant was a morose boy sitting at her bedside, clutching her hand, brooding face obscured by dark curls as his head rested upon the side of her bed.

Lily carefully crossed the room, wondering what happened to Remus who was supposedly calming the boy down. "Sirius?" she said softly, voice echoing off the empty walls and mingling with the sound of her footsteps. "James told me what happened..."

"I know he sent you here to talk to me," Sirius mumbled without even moving. "But you're wasting your breath..."

Of course he would make this difficult, Lily thought to herself. "Where's Remus?" she asked, ignoring his less than warm greeting and pulling up the wooden chair beside him.

Sirius sighed deeply making the little locks of hair covering his face flutter from his breath. "Mary dragged him down to the kitchens with her to make the elves throw out all the nuts in the castle..." he murmured, sitting up lazily, hand still firmly in Adelaide's.

"I doubt James will take kindly to being kicked out..." Lily smirked to herself.

A small smirk quirked at Sirius's lips as well.

"So... James said she was going to be okay..." Lily said after a lingering silence, eyes drifting over to the little purple, ink-stained plushy at Adelaide's side.

"No thanks to me..." Sirius muttered, face turning somber once more.

Lily frowned. "Look, it could have happened at any time... there was no way you could have known—"

"Doesn't matter. I nearly killed her—"

Lily shushed the boy with a fierce look that rivaled Adelaide's hawklike stare. "Sirius, you listen to me right now." she said, finger pointed at him dangerously. "It was _not_ your fault. There is no way on earth you could have possibly known that would happen... and I am absolutely _certain_ that Adelaide will tell you the same thing when she wakes up."

Sirius tried to keep it together, he really did, but his glassy eyes betrayed him. "But I'm supposed to take care of her, Lily..." he said in a broken voice.

"You _do_ take care of her—"

"No! I nearly _killed_ her, Lily! All because I was being stubborn about some stupid candy! She didn't even want to eat it but I practically shoved poison down her throat! You weren't there, you have no idea how awful it was... seeing her like that... and not being able to do a damn thing about it! And it was all my fault! Today was supposed to be perfect but I screwed everything up, as always! We were going to go ice skating and I made her dinner and I was finally going to try to tell her that I—" he cut himself off with wide eyes, looking like he was about to be sick.

"...You were going to tell her... _what_?" Lily asked knowingly.

"Doesn't matter." he muttered, looking over to Adelaide. "It's all ruined now."

Lily growled in exasperation. "Ugh! Sirius Black, if you do not man up and tell that poor girl that you are in love with her, I swear to God I'll—"

Sirius's head whipped over to face Lily once more. "What?!" he squeaked in a voice about an octave higher than his own. "I-I don't know what you are talking about— I-I'm not— I-I don't—"

"Save it." Lily said holding up a hand to silence him (in a very James Potter like way, Sirius noticed). "I know you love her, there's no use lying."

Sirius's breath quickened. He hadn't even talked about this with James. "I-I um...erm— I uh—"

Somehow during Sirius's sputtering Lily managed to get her temper in check. "Sirius, why haven't you just told her?"

Sirius took a deep steadying breath. Lily was right, there was no use lying at this point. "I did..." he said quietly, staring down at Adelaide's hand in his, nearly distracted by her sweet soft, still slightly wheezy breaths as she slept. "well I-I tried to... a bunch of times... I think she thought I was just joking or something the first time... and ever since... I just... I panic..." he said, voice tight. These were things he hadn't told anyone, but here he was spewing his soul out to stinking Lily Evans. "And last night I was going to tell her for real... but then those stupid giant spiders screwed the whole thing up—"

 _"Giant spiders—?!"_

"—And today I was going to tell her again— I set everything up at the music place where we had our first kiss — we were going to go right after we had some candy — I was going to play her favorite song and give her these special purple flowers... But then she nearly died, Lily! She nearly died because of _me_! It's got to be a bad omen or something! Maybe it's a sign that I'm bad for her or something! That me loving her will only hurt her— I mean it's bloody obvious she's too good for me— I'd be lucky if she even felt the same—" he ranted.

"—She does feel the same—" Lily tried to say, words falling on deaf ears as Sirius began working himself up more and more.

"And what if I don't actually love her!? What if this is the universe trying to keep me from saying something stupid?! Can-can you even be in love when you're 15?! Do they have books on these things?! I dunno if love is even what I'm feeling— I mean maybe Marlene's right, maybe I'm just freakishly obsessed with her or something— Infatuated or some shit like that— How would _I_ even know what love felt like?! It's not like my parents love me, or each other for that matter! What if I'm not even _capable_ of love—?!"

"Sirius, Stop!" Lily said loud enough to shut him up. A look of horror washed over his face from telling her some of his deepest darkest insecurities, honestly he sort of forgot she was there after a while. "You _do_ love her." she said calmly, looking him dead in the eyes. "Just like she loves you."

Sirius's grey eyes just stared back at her, unblinking, unable to speak.

"Sirius, I'm going to tell you something that my dad told me." Lily began. "Love isn't just some grand feeling you get. It's an _action._ A choice you make. Loving someone means that you choose to put their needs above anything else. Now, I know that we aren't all that close, but I've seen you with Adelaide for years and I know you would die before you let anything happen to her... Just like how she would die before she let anything happen to _you_.

"Love can be big things like that, but it can also be little things like how you always carry her around even though I know it wears you out, or how she's kind and patient with you when you get in your moods, even though it's probably the furthest thing from how she would like to react... Now, I'm sure there are some feelings involved as well... but the point is, you love her. You actively choose to love her despite her flaws. Every day. You love her and you need to tell her— if for no other reason than to keep me from going absolutely mental!"

Sirius chuckled a bit at Lily's exasperation, but was still dumbfounded by her kindness. Her little speech was something he had never actually heard before... though somewhere deep down, it felt familiar. Somewhere deep down he knew she was right... but he was still terrified to tell Adelaide. Even though his heart told him she loved him too, his head still couldn't make sense of how that was possible. For someone as funny and pretty and wonderful as her to love him as much as he loved her... It seemed too good to be true.

"PRONGS—LET—ME—PROFESS—MY—LOVE!" screamed a very passionate Peter as he was magically bound and being floated into the infirmary by a thoroughly vexed James Potter.

"What the hell?" Sirius muttered in confusion.

Lily tried to stifle a giggle, hands over her mouth.

"POPPY! HELP!" James hollered. "LOVE POTION!"

Seconds later the matron came bursting into the room looking more huffy than usual. "Thirteenth one today—" she grumbled. "That Horace, I swear he doesn't even think— teaching teenagers how to brew love potions—insanity, utter senselessness, that's what it is— Alright dear, this way..." she sighed, directing Peter's floating body toward a bed in the far side of the room before running off to grab the antidote.

"Who slipped Wormy a love potion?" Sirius asked.

"Uh... I think it was actually intended for _you_..." James said a little awkwardly. "He thinks he's in love with Lydia Green—"

"I _AM_ IN LOVE WITH HER!" Peter protested.

Sirius raised his eyebrows and Lily finally let out a laugh.

"DON'T LAUGH AT MY PAIN, EVANS!" Peter snapped uncharacteristically.

Lily swore she heard James growl. "Don't talk to her like that." he said in a low voice to the boy who instantly looked terrified.

"Soooo, what do we think the chances are that Mary and Remus are going to come back from the kitchens with snacks?" Lily asked as she clapped her hands together importantly, trying to ease the tension.

* * *

In the wee hours of the next morning, long before the sun would rise up behind the snow topped Scottish mountains surrounding the ancient castle, Adelaide's eyes fluttered open and her mouth curved up into a smile when she saw the curly haired boy softly snoring at her side, hand lazily clutched in hers. Carefully, she pushed the black locks out of his eyes then leaned forward to kiss him on the forehead. She always loved how peaceful he looked when he was asleep.

His hand squeezed hers slightly as he stirred from his slumber, bright grey eyes meeting hers. "G'morning, Love." he croaked with a lazy smile, completely forgetting about the walnut fiasco.

"I think it's technically still night time..." Adelaide said with a sheepish smile.

"Mmm... How're you feeling?" he asked, little creases forming between his brows.

"F-fine..." She said unconvincingly earning a knowing look from Sirius. "Okay... I'm kind of cold..."

Sirius instantly got up to go hunt down a blanket but Adelaide stopped him. "No—can you just... um..." she began, scooting over and patting the spot beside her with an awkwardly hopeful smile.

Sirius chuckled. "You want to use me as a space heater?"

"Mhmm!" she nodded.

Sirius rolled his eyes as he smiled, "I don't think Poppy would approve..."

"Since when do you care what Poppy approves of?" she asked cheekily.

Sirius smirked. "Good point."

Adelaide smiled as Sirius climbed in beside her, heat radiating off of him making her want to snuggle as close as possible. "Mmm... you make a very good space heater." she murmured, feeling the rumble of his chest as he chuckled, eyes fluttering closed as she breathed in the smell of him, relaxing more and more as he ran his fingers through her hair and kissed the top of her head.

After a few minutes, just as she was beginning to doze off, Sirius took a deep breath. "Addy... I—I'm sorry..."

Adelaide groggily squirmed to look up at him. "For what?" she asked genuinely.

Sirius looked at her incredulously. "Addy... I almost killed you..." he said, voice strained.

Adelaide would have laughed if he didn't look so torn up about it. "Sirius, don't be silly. It wasn't your fault the stupid walnuts tried to off me."

"But-but I made you eat them..." he said pathetically.

Adelaide pulled herself up and placed her hands on either side of his face, looking him in the eyes. It wasn't until this point that she noticed how puffy and red his eyes were. He'd been crying about this. "Sirius, it wasn't your fault." she said calmly and slowly, softly stroking his cheek with her thumb. "Besides, look at me. I'm fine. Better than fine." she smiled, leaning in to kiss him on the nose.

Sirius looked back at her for a long few moments, internally debating if he should say what he did next. "Addy, I was so scared." he admitted, tears pooling in his silvery grey eyes, voice breaking. "It was like one of my nightmares… You couldn't breathe and I thought you—I thought you were going to d-die..."

"Shh... Sirius, I'm not going anywhere." she said soothingly. "I promised I'd be around till we were both all old wrinkly, remember?" she laughed softly.

Sirius leaned into her touch, eyes closing as he felt himself calm down just listening to her melodic laugh. "You sure you won't get sick of having me around?" he asked only half-jokingly.

Adelaide chuckled once again. "Of course I won't! I love you, you idiot!"

Sirius's eyes flew open in surprise, obviously catching Adelaide's words before she realized she'd said them. "Wha-what did you say?"

"I said I wouldn't get sick of you..." she repeated, hands slipping away from his face, confused by his odd expression.

"Af-after that..." he said, voice shaking now.

"I said I love— oh Merlin!" Adelaide squeaked, face burning with embarrassment, mortified that she'd just said that out loud. She immediately hid her face in her hands feeling very much like she might throw up. "I'm sorry!" she mumbled woefully into her hands. "I made everything weird! I'm so sorry! You don't have to say it back! Just forget I said anything!"

Sirius began to laugh at her flustered state. "Addykins, calm down. I love you too."

Adelaide peeked behind her fingers. "You—you _do_?" she asked in disbelief, but stomach fluttering more than ever.

"Yes!" he said, grinning and nodding like an idiot.

" _Really_?"

"Yes, Addy! Really!"

"You're sure?"

Sirius rolled his eyes, still unable to keep from smiling as he gently moved her hands away from her blushing face. "Adelaide Rose Fawley. I am absolutely, positively, without a doubt, in love with you."

Adelaide blinked a few times in surprise, a smile involuntary pulling at her lips at how lovely those words sounded coming from his mouth. "Could you say it again, please?"

A bark like laugh rumbled from Sirius's chest. "I am in love with you, Addykins!"

Adelaide grinned. "Again!"

Sirius smiled wide. "I love you! I love you! I love you, you idiot!" he said as he peppered her face in kisses, causing her to giggle.

"OUT! OUT OF THAT BED, MR. BLACK!" Madam Pomfrey hollered sounding annoyed, but unsurprised. "You know the rules! If you cannot stay out of her bed I will be forced to send you back to your dormitory—"

"But Poppy! I'm in love!" he whined loudly in protest, theatrically wrapping his arms around a laughing Adelaide.

Poppy held in a laugh. "All the more reason! Now _out_!"

Sirius whined like a sad dog and looked up at the matron who was waving her wand over Adelaide to check her vitals. "Please Poppy! She'll freeze without me!"

Adelaide nodded aggressively in agreement. "It's true. My toes get very cold, Poppy."

Madam Pomfrey put her hands on her hips. "I'll get you another blanket... Now, Black, you can either get out of that bed willingly or I will _remove_ you."

Sirius sighed loudly, giving Adelaide a kiss on the cheek before he slowly and reluctantly crawled out from her bed, looking sadder than ever. "I thought we were pals, Poppy..." he pouted pitifully.

Madam Pomfrey merely shook her head as she chuckled, giving Adelaide a potion to help with her still sore throat and conjuring her another warm blanket. "I think that should do it... Now, you should try to rest up a bit more before breakfast, dear— and Mr. Black, you stay in that chair, you hear me?" she said pointing at him intimidatingly before bustling out of the infirmary.

The moment she was out the door, Sirius hastily climbed back into the bed beside Adelaide. "I'm back, my lov—Good Godric, your feet are cold!" he exclaimed jerking his legs away.

"Sorry." Adelaide sniggered, not sounding sorry in the least as she squirmed to get comfortable. Finally, she ended up facing him with a lazy smile on her lips. "I love you." she said simply, stomach erupting in the most perfect butterflies. Every time she said or heard those words it felt like the first time.

Sirius's eyes were soft as he looked back at her and tucked her hair behind her ear, still feeling as if all this was too good to be true. "You sure?"

"Mhmm." Adelaide nodded with a smile. "I find you quite fetching."

Sirius chuckled softly before pressing a gentle kiss to her lips, running his hands through her hair. "You make me really happy, Addy." he said quietly as she rested her head on his shoulder.

"You make me really happy too, Siri." she yawned.

"Addy..." Sirius said once more into the silence of the room.

"Mmhmm..." Adelaide hummed, nuzzling closer to him.

"I'd really like to be the one you marry one day..." he said so quietly that she might not have heard him if she wasn't so close.

A beat passed.

"...I'd really like that too." she said with an equally soft voice.

"…But what if—Addy, what if your parents make you marry someone else?" he said softly once again, voice constrained as he unconsciously held her a bit closer, as if he was afraid she would slip away at any moment. Something as perfect and wonderful as her loving him had to have a price. He felt as if being this happy practically ensured that something horrible would happen to them. Again, it just felt too good to be true—how could he love, be loved, and get his happy ending too?

This was the first time Adelaide had _ever_ seen Sirius genuinely worried about the possibility of her winding up with one of the other suitors. For years, he remained annoyingly confident in his kidnapping abilities, resolutely stubborn in his assurance that he would one day save her before things reached that point.

But that night something shifted.

Everything was suddenly much more real... Before they said those three little words, it was easy for him to joke about swooping in on the back of a thunderbird to rescue her. But now, just thinking of the very real possibility of her winding up with someone else— _marrying_ someone else in the not so distant future... it made him feel a preemptive agony like none he had felt before. Just the thought of losing her felt like his heart was being ripped from his chest.

Adelaide quickly shifted so that they were eye to eye in that cramped and cold hospital bed, cupped his face in her little hands in the way that always calmed him down, then said, with a gentle confidence, "Sirius, we're not going to let that happen." sounding so sweet and sincere that, for a moment at least, he believed her.


	92. Chapter 92

**Chapter 92–I Know I'm an Idiot**

It was a particularly sunny Saturday morning in late March, and a little blue bird (whom Adelaide had named Denise) was chirping from its perch upon the windowsill of the Gryffindor girls' dorm... giving what Adelaide was sure was a sympathetic look when it saw Mary yanking the girl's hair into a tight french braid down the back of her head.

"Now when you get out there, you need to just focus on playing _your_ game—if you focus too much on the other team you'll get stuck in one of those Ravenclaw's traps—They might not be as bad as Slytherin, but still—you never know what kind of stupid stunts they'll pull—" Mary's advice was punctuated by a rather forceful tug of Adelaide's hair.

"Ow!" Adelaide yelped in pain, startling Denise the bluebird and sending her flying away toward a cloud shaped like a bowl of oatmeal. Mary didn't even notice her best friend's discomfort, lost in her borderline obsessive mutterings.

"And you _have_ to check your blind spots more or else you're practically a sitting duck for beaters, Addy. That Theo has a mean arm and he's not afraid to use it—Oh and you _especially_ have to watch out for that Felicitania girl—the chaser—she seems all _nice_ —"

"Ow!" Adelaide yelped again, wincing and grabbing onto her Quidditch robes to keep from thwacking the girl behind her. "Watch it, Mary..."

"—But she's _not_! She's a manipulative—backstabbing —boyfriend stealing— _liar_!"

"Ouch! Stop it! That hurts!" Adelaide said, now reaching back to swat her friend. "And I know she sucks! You've told me every day for the past week! But you didn't even fancy Martin! I don't get why you're so worked up about it!" she complained as Mary resumed yanking her hair into a braided submission.

Now, it might sound as if Adelaide was being a bit unsympathetic toward Mary's recent breakup with Martin, but that was only because she was _absolutely_ unsympathetic toward Mary's recent breakup with Martin. Mary was still plainly mooning after Evan, despite their several month long estrangement, and Adelaide was tired of hearing about what a prat Martin was to her. In her opinion, it was better that they broke up this way: though Mary's pride was bruised, at least Martin's heart wasn't broken.

Mary finally tied off Adelaide's hair (causing the blonde to let out a sigh of relief that her torture was over). "It's the principle of the matter, Addy! _She_ didn't know that I was going to break up with him when she decided to—to _seduce_ him away like some—some _common goblin_!"

"Language, McDonald!" scolded a lower sniggering voice.

"Good Merlin!" Mary gasped, clutching her heart. "You know it's a little creepy how quietly you can sneak in here, Sirius..." she said as she cast a disapproving look at the curly haired boy who nearly gave her a heart attack.

Sirius chuckled as he flopped backward onto Adelaide's bed. "Mmm... your bed always smells so good, Addykins..." he smiled with his eyes closed, breathing in the scent of lavender and vanilla on her pillow, ignoring the fact that he really shouldn't have been up there enough to know what her bed smelled like.

"So, what brings you to our humble dwelling, Padfoot?" Adelaide asked, bouncing down beside him with a grin.

"Just wanted to hang out with my super cute and talented girlfriend before her big game today," he said with a dopey smile, tugging her toward him so he could give a quick kiss to her lips.

"Gross." Mary gagged, throwing Dorris at them.

"Ignore her," Adelaide grumbled, catching Dorris mid-air with cat-like reflexes. "She's been pissy all day."

"I've been nothing of the sort!" Mary defended passionately.

Adelaide rolled her eyes and Sirius began to inspect her hair. "So... What's with the new do, Ads? I thought you always put your hair in a ponytail for games?"

She opened her mouth to explain, but Mary beat her to it. "No! No more ponytails!" the brunette said a little aggressively causing Sirius to raise his eyebrows in surprise. "Hair flipping around all willy nilly! Blocking her peripheral vision! NO! Not happening! I need her to make it through this game in one piece!"

Adelaide rolled her eyes once again. "Oh come on, I don't get hurt _that_ often—"

"You break something nearly _every_ game!" Mary said loudly. "And you don't just break something, Addy! You nearly get yourself _killed_! How the hell am I supposed to enjoy watching the Holyhead Harpies next week with a dead best friend!?"

"You could always just have me cremated... Carry me around in a nice urn... Do me a favor though and get Gwendolyn Morgan to sign it if you see her."

Mary shot her a dirty look. "Not funny."

Sirius sat up with one of Adelaide's goose feather pillows in his lap. "I'm surprised your dad's actually letting you go to that game, Ads... No offense Mare, but you aren't exactly the type of insane folks they prefer her to consort with."

"None taken," Mary said quickly, mood noticeably improving at the thought of having her best friend with her for the whole week of Easter break. It would be the first time Adelaide got to visit her house and she was bursting with excitement—made evident by her making Adelaide a packing list and itinerary a month in advance, and taking every precaution to make sure she made it through this Quidditch game without any major injuries.

While Mary fluttered about the dorm in brighter spirits, Adelaide seemed more anxious than usual and Sirius suspected it had nothing to do with pregame jitters. "Addy... you did ask your dad if you could go, right?" he asked too quietly for Mary (who ran off to get dressed in the bathroom) to hear.

Adelaide squirmed uncomfortably under his knowing gaze, now anxiously fiddling with one of Dorris's little ears. "Um... I may have forgotten to mention it..." she said quietly.

"Ugh! Addy!" Sirius groaned in exasperation.

"You know he would just say no, Siri! He never lets me go anywhere! And she's so excited about it and it-it took a ton of convincing just to get her dad to even agree to take me! And her mum said she'd take us to see one of those muggle mover thingies and you _know_ how much I've wanted to go to one! What-what was I supposed to do!?"

"I dunno—but they're going to be so mad if they find out you lied, Addy—I just—I don't want you to get hurt again," he said, worry clouding his grey eyes. Now, Sirius wasn't against her blatantly disobeying people in the name of friendship—actually, were it any other occasion he would encourage it—but he felt uneasy pissing off her parents more than she really needed to—neither one of them could handle her being attacked by Crazy Cathryn again. "Not to mention Riddle... I thought you were trying to keep under the radar?"

"I _am_! B-but it's too late to back out now— we leave tomorrow and I'll never get an owl there and back that quickly with how long my dad takes to write back."

"He'll be at the game today—just ask him then—"

"Are you _insane_?!" Adelaide said incredulously, chest tightening in anxiety just at the thought—She completely forgot that her father was planning on coming until that moment... "No! N-no, absolutely not!"

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Fine, then I'll ask him for you."

"NO! No, you will not!" Adelaide growled. "I love you Sirius, but if you say one word to him I swear to Merlin I'll rip your—" her threat was cut short as Mary re-entered the room to grab her socks.

"Uh... Addy, aren't you supposed to be heading down now?" Mary said, looking down at her watch.

Adelaide groaned as she remembered the pre-game warm-up Woody planned—if she didn't leave soon she'd have to miss breakfast and that was _not_ an option. Before she parted, she made a point to give Sirius a frighteningly stern look that would have rattled him if he didn't know she was head over heels in love with him "You. Will. Say. _Nothing_." she told him slowly just before storming out of the dormitory without him.

Sirius watched her leave, briefly noticing how very hot she looked when she was angry, and still fully planning to speak to her father that afternoon.

Mary looked at Sirius still casually sitting on Adelaide's bed. "You going to leave or...?"

"Oh... Yeah..." he laughed sheepishly, letting himself out.

* * *

Regulus Black loved Quidditch nearly as much as he loved birds, which made sense in a way—Flying around on a broom was about as close as he could get to feeling the way a bird would, stalking after snitches like a bird of prey on the hunt. However, going to support Adelaide at her games was always a tricky matter.

He couldn't be too excited or else the other Slytherins would at best, tease him, at worst, shun him for being a traitor. But he couldn't just _not_ go to her games, she was his friend after all.

"Hey Black, I'm going to work on that new hex that Sev came up with later, you in?" Avery asked as they walked through the dungeons toward breakfast.

"He can't." Wilkes sniggered. "He's got to watch Princess at her game."

"Oh, I forgot! They're playing Ravenclaw, aren't they?" Avery said. "You know what. I think I'll come too!"

Wilkes raised an eyebrow. "You will?"

"Yeah, I'd love to see her fall off her broom again," Avery smirked.

"I'll come too! I hear that friend of hers, the hot one, got dumped by her boyfriend—I expect she'll be needing a shoulder to cry on." Mulciber said with a creepy smile, beady eyes dark with malice. "And I hear she's got a real thing for snakes if you know what I mean." he laughed.

Regulus clenched his fist. "If you mean McDonald, I really don't think she'll be interested," he said in an emotionless voice.

Mulciber lopped an arm over his shoulders. "Oh, my dear, sweet, little Prince Regulus... Let's just say... there are ways of _making_ her interested..." he said in a dark voice. Regulus clenched his fist even tighter, nails digging little crescents into his palm.

"Reg! Hey Reg! Wait up!" Evan called, running up from behind them with a big poster in his hands, brown hair flopping around as he did so. Regulus was immensely grateful that he hadn't been there to listen to the beady-eyed boy's disturbing comments. Despite Evan's attempts to convince everyone that he was completely over Mary and was just happy that she was happy, Regulus saw the longing looks he gave her and knew he missed having her around... Not unlike Regulus in regard to Marlene...

Evan eventually caught up with the group, smiling his wide, dazzling smile. "Reg! We're still sitting together at the game, right?"

Regulus nodded, shrugging off Mulciber's arm. "Yeah, that's the plan..."

"We're coming as well," Avery said with a smirk, gesturing to Mulciber.

Evan was clearly wary of this new information. "Oh... well... great. More the merrier I guess..." he chuckled awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck. "Um... Madge said she'd come as well—"

"What's with the poster?" Wilkes asked.

Evan glanced down as if he forgot it was in his hands. "Oh! I made it for Addy!"

Mulciber snatched it out of his hands to get a better look. The poster was a crimson red with glittering gold letters that read 'Go Addy the Bad Assy' with a rather impressive charmed drawing of a gold, roaring lion.

Avery turned his nose up at the poster in order to fully display his disgust and stormed away without another word, followed soon after by Wilkes.

"What's got his wand in a knot..." Evan muttered, yanking the poster back.

Mulciber rolled his beady eyes. "If I had to venture a guess, I'd say he's bitter that you're actually friends with her."

Evan couldn't understand why he would possibly be bitter. "What?"

"I think he's got sort of a thing for her— whether he knows it or not—but she hates his guts, sooo..." Mulciber shrugged.

"Not without reason. He's a total dick to her." Regulus snapped.

Mulciber chuckled, raising his hands in defense. "Woah, Black. I'm not here to judge—merely stating the facts."

Evan glared ever so slightly at the weaselly boy ahead of them, walking with his chin held high as if the whole world should bow to his every whim. Though it made him nauseous to think about, Evan would rather Adelaide ended up marrying Regulus or himself before some pompous jerk like Avery.

"So, you were _friends_ with McDonald, weren't you Rosier?" Mulciber began with a devilish grin as they rounded the corridor towards the great hall. If Regulus cared about the boy in the least, he would have stopped him from speaking further, but as it stood, he very much wanted to see Evan hex him.

"Uh... yeah?"

Mulciber's creepy grin widened. "Well... what was she like?"

Evan was confused by Mulciber's sudden interest in Mary. He always thought he hated her. "Oh... um, she's really sweet—talks a lot, but in a good way— _huge_ Quidditch fan—knows everything about every player. It's bloody amazing— I swear she could tell you what—"

"That's not what I meant," Mulciber said quickly. "I wanted to know how good a snog she was," he said wriggling his eyebrows.

" _Excuse me?_!" Evan said indignantly. Regulus smirked just faintly. He knew this was coming.

"Oh come off it! Everyone knows you two were a thing—"

"We were _friends_. Just _friends_! And I dunno why it should matter to you—she'd never be caught _dead_ snogging a half-troll perv like you!" Evan snapped as they approached the great hall.

"Well... we'll just see about that!" Mulciber spat dangerously. "Once I'm done with her, she'll be _begging_ for me to do more than just snog her—"

At those words, something snapped in Evan— his blue-green eyes narrowed dangerously, then without warning, he grabbed the beady-eyed boy by the shirt and slammed him painfully against the stone wall— At that moment Evan didn't care that he was a prefect, nor that he was in full view of other students on their way to breakfast (including a few already traumatized first-year Hufflepuffs), all he saw was a snake that needed to be put in its place. "I swear to Merlin if you touch her— If you so much as _look_ at her the wrong way, you filthy piece of inbred scum— you'll wish you were _dead_!" he seethed.

"Big threat for a bloke who couldn't even get in a proper snog—"

Evan shoved him against the wall once again, jaw clenched, nostrils flaring. "It's not a threat. It's a promise," he growled, staring him down with an unwavering gaze that practically screamed danger. Regulus expected Evan to be upset, but he certainly didn't expect _this_. "You are going to stay the hell away from her! Do you understand?!"

Mulciber stared back at him, clearly just as shocked as Regulus at how terrifying Rosier was in that moment.

"DO YOU UNDERSTAND?!" Evan roared shoving him once more, prompting the boy to nod quickly.

" _Evan_?!" called a somewhat shrill, but melodic voice.

With one last shove, Evan let the boy go, glaring at him as he ran off to his thug friends, breath heavy with anger that seemed a little extreme, even if Mulciber was being a perv.

"Evan, what the hell was that all about?" Adelaide asked, shocked to see her mild-mannered friend so upset.

"Nothing," he muttered quietly, sending a silent look to Regulus, trying to wordlessly tell him not to say anything.

"No! That was most certainly _something_! What happened?!"

Evan's handsome face hardened. "He was just being a prat, Addy. Don't worry about it."

Adelaide studied him for a moment and was completely unconvinced. Whatever that idiot did must have really struck a nerve because she couldn't remember ever seeing him that upset.

"ADDY! ADDY BELL!" called an out of breath voice from behind her. Mary ran up breath heavy and hands rested on her knees when she finally caught up to her friend. "You— forgot— your— gloves—!" she panted, holding up said gloves, still trying to catch her breath and holding a stitch in her side. "Bloody hell I hate running..." she muttered with her eyes closed, completely unaware of Adelaide's Slytherin company.

Adelaide quickly took the gloves and began thanking her profusely.

"It's no problem— Gotta make sure you hang on to that broom of yours somehow! I don't have an urn to pack you away in!" Mary chuckled. Finally, she looked up to see an amused Regulus and a still quietly fuming Evan. "Oh... um... Hi..." she said shyly to both of them, but looking at Evan, trying to figure out why he looked so flustered.

"I um... I'm really not hungry, Reg... I'll catch up with you later." Evan said rather awkwardly, ignoring Mary all together as he walked out to the grounds.

Mary felt her heart sink as she watched him go, then wandered off to eat her own breakfast in the hall.

"Okay, what's up with him?" Adelaide hissed to Regulus once they were finally alone. "He looked about ready to bash Mulciber's head in—not that I would have complained, he's a total toad—but that's just completely unlike him."

Regulus sighed as he glanced over to Mary walking morosely to the Gryffindor table then back to Adelaide. He wasn't sure, but he had a feeling that Evan didn't want Mary or Adelaide to worry about his beady-eyed nemesis's comments. "Mulciber was just being a prat like always, Ads. Evan was already annoyed because of him and Avery inviting themselves to the game later and it set him off—"

"That weasel is coming?!" Adelaide groaned, finally walking into the great hall to eat. "Ugh! This day keeps getting better and better... as if it's not bad enough that my dad's going to be there, now I have to deal with that tosspot trying to antagonize me... and don't even get me started on Mary's freakish over protectiveness..."

Regulus sat down, scooted some oatmeal across the table towards Adelaide, poured himself some tea with two sugars, and tried to listen to her long tangent concerning her hair and someone named Denise... However, her words were drowned out when he saw Marlene walk in the hall with some Ravenclaw, fifth-year boy— her face flushed as she tried to smooth out her hair and cover a purplish mark on her neck.

It felt as if someone had punched him in the gut.

"...needs a better form of anger management if you ask me, but does she listen? Noooo..." Adelaide said sassily, trailing off as she caught sight of Regulus's heartbroken expression. She swiftly followed his gaze, turning to see her honey-blonde friend, who had most certainly just returned from a morning snog session with her boy of the week. She wrinkled her nose in disgust then turned back to Regulus. "Reggie... I know what it looks like... but she doesn't actually fancy him..." she said quietly.

The dark-haired boy's eyes fixated themselves on his plate of eggs. "Wouldn't matter if she did."

"Reggie, I think maybe if you just talked to her more—"

"Addy, I don't want to have this conversation again," Regulus said coolly. "She's a blood-traitor. Her life is no concern of mine."

Adelaide frowned and shook her head. "You don't really mean that. You're just jealous—"

"—I'm not jealous—"

"You know that's the only reason she's doing it, to make you upset, to make you miss her—"

"Please, Ads just stop—"

"—she still has your handkerchief, you know—"

"Addy, just drop it—"

"—and I've seen the way you two are together, it's special Reggie—"

"Bloody Hell, Adelaide! Just let it go!" he snapped loudly, slamming his fork on the table for emphasis, making her jump slightly in surprise, and gaining a few curious looks from around the hall...including Sirius. "Ugh... great... and here comes the guard dog..." he muttered under his breath as he watched Sirius make his way toward them.

"You okay over here, Addykins?" Sirius asked stiffly, coming up from behind her and rubbing her shoulders protectively.

"I-I'm fine, Siri," Adelaide said in an almost convincing voice. She tried very hard to not take Regulus's outburst personally, she knew he was just upset because of Marlene, but she still couldn't help feeling hurt that he snapped at her with such venom—after all, she was only trying to help.

Sirius, per usual, saw right through her lie. "Hmm... Well, why don't you come eat with us today, love? Prongs wanted to talk to you about some Quidditch thing anyways..." he said, trying to sound casual.

With one last fleeting look at a still highly flustered Regulus, Adelaide nodded and joined the boys for breakfast.

* * *

After breakfast Mary wandered out to the grounds, hoping the springtime air would help her clear her head. As she ambled along the soft grass toward the black lake, dark brown hair carelessly flying around in the wind, she couldn't help thinking of what a mess she had made of things.

The only real reason she dated Martin was to get over Evan, but now here she was, a week after finding him snogging that horrible Felicitania Tugwood in a broom closet, single once again and missing that Slytherin more than ever. And to make matters worse, even if her dad changed his mind about letting her be friends with Evan, she'd botched things so badly that she'd be lucky if he ever talked to her again.

She was so lost in her own thoughts and self-pity that she didn't even notice the brown-haired boy sitting under a beech tree down the path... but he noticed her.

"Mary?" called a familiar voice. At first, she thought she'd finally gone crazy—it wasn't bad enough that she thought about him all the bloody time, now she was imagining him talking to her too. However, when she looked up, she found that she was not imagining anything. There Evan sat in the soft light of morning under a beech tree, ripping apart some wildflowers for some strange reason, blue-green eyes looking at her, with an unreadable expression chiseled upon his sun-kissed face.

Her thumping heart beat hard against her chest, her mouth suddenly felt very dry, and she wondered when it got so hot out. She decided that it was safer to just wave given her current state... and so she did... awkwardly.

Evan smiled softly and waved back, less awkwardly.

Before she could tell her legs otherwise, they began to carry her toward him all on their own. She wasn't sure how she was going to manage words, or what she would even say—a bit of an unprecedented event for her—but as she made her way closer her mouth spoke all on its own. "What's with all the flowers?" she asked, looking from the ripped up pile of mutilated wildflowers to the boy.

"Oh... Um... I-I was kind of upset." he said, clearly embarrassed that his preferred form of anger management involved ripping innocent wildflowers to shreds.

Mary hummed and invited herself to sit beside him, giving him a searching look with her big brown eyes as she did so. "Upset with me?" she guessed, mouth working too fast for its own good, as always.

Evan looked quite puzzled. "No? Why would I be upset with you?" he asked genuinely.

Thinking that he was just being polite, Mary shrugged then averted her eyes down to one of the still intact flowers beside her, picked it up and idly started pulling the yellow petals off one by one.

"I heard about Marvin," he said quietly after a moment, watching her fingers pause briefly before resuming. "I'm sorry..."

"Martin." she corrected. "And it's probably for the best. He was a prat." she shrugged, eyes still fixed on the flowers. She may have imagined it, but she could have sworn Evan scooted closer by a hair.

"Addy said you're going to see the Holyhead Harpies next week," he commented casually. "Should be a really good match... I bet you're excited."

Mary felt a pang of guilt hit her squarely in the gut. That silly game was the whole reason for their estrangement. If she'd never asked her parents if he could come, they might have been snogging under that tree instead of awkwardly killing flowers together.

"Yeah..." she said simply.

A heavy silence fell upon them, broken only by the soft sounds of the sloshing lake, the breeze through the trees, and the whistling of a bluebird as it flew overhead.

"Mary, I have something I've been meaning to ask you..." Evan said finally. There was not a hint of a stutter or a stammer to his voice, so Mary knew there was no way he was about to ask her out.

Cautiously, she glanced up at him bracing herself for the worst as Evan looked her dead in the eyes, unnerving her in the process.

"Did I do something to upset you?" he asked looking so vulnerable and earnest that it made her want to cry. She realized that he wasn't upset or angry with her, but hurt. He blamed himself for her erratic behavior.

Mary took a shaky breath, then said, "No," in an unsteady voice.

"Then why have you been avoiding me all semester?" He looked even more heartbroken and Mary just couldn't take it. She knew if she didn't leave soon all her resolution to keep her distance would fade.

"I'm sorry—I just—I have a game today—I-I just—I really can't do this right now, Ev," she said quickly moving to stand.

"Mary, wait!" Evan leapt to his feet and instinctually caught her hand before she could walk away, skin burning against hers like the aftermath of an electrical shock. "I'm sorry." he said simply, pleading eyes boring into her once more. "I-I know I'm an idiot but—"

"You're not an idiot." Mary frowned.

Evan smiled softly. "That's really sweet of you to say... but I really am..." His free hand scratched the back of his neck. "and I also know I've botched things up with you so many times, Mary... too many times... and I know I'm an awkward mess and that I'm a big scary Slytherin or whatever... and that I have terrible taste in Quidditch teams... b-but—but honestly these past few months without you have just sucked... they've sucked so bloody much... and I'd really—If it's okay with you, of course... um well, I'd really like to be friends with you again... because I-I just—I really miss you, Mare."

Mary wasn't sure how it happened, but they were suddenly standing quite close to one another, close enough for her to see the dark aqua blue that circled the brim of his irises—close enough for her to smell his heavenly scent of sandalwood and citrus, to listen to his breath shake and betray his somewhat composed exterior. In that moment, she was certain that her father was wrong about Evan Rosier. This boy was quite possibly the sweetest, kindest boy she'd ever had the pleasure of meeting, and that she ever would meet... and she honestly didn't give a porlock's arse if her paranoid father got mad at her for being friends with him. She liked Evan and his endearing awkwardness and she would be damned if she let anything keep them apart ever again.

And so, with a small shy smile and a subtle squeeze of his poor clammy hand, Mary said, "I've really missed you too, Ev... and for the record, your taste in Quidditch teams isn't _that_ tragic..."

Evan chuckled, his dazzling smile practically blinding her with his luminosity and happiness, soft blue-green eyes staring at her in pleasant disbelief. "Does—does this mean we're friends again?"

Mary bit her lower lip, then nodded and not a half a second later Evan wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tight as he grinned and she giggled.

"Oi! McDonald!" called a voice from the path a little ways away. "As truly happy as I am to see you fraternizing with my cousin again, we happen to have a game to commentate!" Sirius smirked, pointing dramatically to his watch.

Mary felt her cheeks heat up as Evan released her from his bear hug, running to catch up with Sirius... but not before sending one last wave to Evan.

* * *

The game was in full swing, and Adelaide was in perfect form, weaving between those Ravenclaws faster than a bullet from one of those weird muggle death machines. They were point for point with the Ravenclaws, but it had been a truly exciting game thus far. She was flying fast toward the left side of the field just as Martin McKinnon was lining up to throw to his new girlfriend and fellow chaser, Felicitania Tugwood, when out of no where Adelaide zipped up and grabbed the ball mid-air, grinning.

"ADDYKI— I MEAN _FAWLEY_ HAS THE BALL— SHE'S CLIMBING HIGH WITH RAVENCLAW CHASER TUGWOOD HOT ON HER TRAIL—"

"—LEAVE HER ALONE YOU WARTHOG!" Mary screamed savagely, momentarily yanking the megaphone away from Sirius.

"McDONALD!" McGonagall chided, yanking an angry Mary down to give her another stern talking to.

"SHE LOOKS TO THE GOAL— LINES UP— I DON'T KNOW HOW SHE'LL EVER MAKE IT THAT FAR FROM THE HOOP— AANNNDD— SHE THROWS THE BALL RIGHT DOWN TO POTTER! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! HE CAME OUT OF KNOW WHERE FOR A PERFECTLY EXECUTED PORSKOFF PLOY!" Sirius screamed, beaming with pride for both Adelaide and James. "AND NOW THAT HANDSOME DEVIL POTTER IS LINING UP... ANNND... HE SCORES! TEN POINTS TO GRYFFINDOR! YES! THAT DASHING BOY HAS DONE IT! HE'S TIED UP THE GAME"

"GRYFFINDOR SEEKER, FINLAY BELL, IS AFTER SOMETHING— IS IT THE SNITCH?!" Mary said.

"COULD BE A FALSE ALARM— SHE HAS ENJOYED FAKING OUT THAT POOR RAVENCLAW SEEKER CHANG A FEW TIMES ALREADY—" Sirius chuckled.

"NO! SHE SEES THE SNITCH! NO FALSE ALARM HERE, FOLKS! ITS NECK-IN-NECK AS SHE AND CHANG BATTLE IT OUT!"

"GAMES ALL TIED UP AT 150 POINTS A PIECE— WHOEVER CATCHES THE SNITCH WINS THE GAME—"

"BUT RAVENCLAW STILL NEEDS A THIRTY POINT LEAD TO HAVE A CHANCE TO WIN THE CUP!" Mary said in excitement. "QUESTION NOW, IS IF CHANG CAN HOLD BELL OFF LONG ENOUGH FOR THE RAVENCLAW CHASERS TO GET PAST McLAGGAN TO SCORE THE POINTS NEEDED—"

Tugwood had the Quaffle and was flying full steam ahead toward the goal, but Adelaide was right behind her, barrel-rolling to avoid a bludger from Ravenclaw beater Theo, then doing a diagonal loop to keep from crashing into Martin on Tugwoods left— Tugwood threw the ball and watched as it went zooming toward Gryffindor keeper, McLaggen's legs, only to be intercepted by Adelaide last minute.

She was flying toward James now with the Quaffle nestled tightly under her right arm, giving the signal to fly one of his new routes, when out of no-where she felt a bludger slam into her chest, knocking the Quaffle out of her arms and wind out of her lungs and leaving her futilely gasping for air. She looked around in a breathless panic, hoping to find Woody to tell him to call a time out, when from her blind-spot, just as Mary had predicted that Ravenclaw beater sent another bludger hurtling toward her.

The ball hit her left shoulder with a gruesome crack, nearly sending her off her broom by the sheer velocity upon impact.

"YOU SCUM BAG!" Mary bellowed at the beater for his dirty shot. McGonagall didn't even fight her on it. "DIRTY HIT! SHE DIDN'T EVEN HAVE THE BALL YOU NINNY!"

"YOU'RE OKAY, ADS! JUST SHAKE IT OFF!" Sirius called, trying to convince himself that she really was okay—he was about one more hit away from hopping on a broom and throttling that beater for hurting her.

Adelaide was doubled over her broom in pain, but was slowly able to breathe again. She narrowed her eyes and set off toward the ball with even more conviction than before— she growled like a angry lioness and hit Martin with her right shoulder much harder than he thought possible given both her small frame and wounded state— he fumbled the Quaffle and she was quick to snatch it up and zoom away. She made her way down the pitch toward the Ravenclaw keeper—staring him down like a bird of prey, flanked on her left side by one of her own beaters, Armstrong, who was obviously trying to keep her from getting hit again.

"—FAWLEY LINES UP TO THROW AND—" Sirius called

"—BELL IS REACHING FOR THE SNITCH—"

Adelaide heaved the quaffle toward the hoop and listened as she scored just before Finlay caught the snitch, securing a Gryffindor win.

The crowd was screaming and Adelaide even caught a glimpse of Lily Evans frantically waving around her little Gryffindor flag— no one could have guessed what happened next.

Still grinning from their win, and making her way down to the field to celebrate, Adelaide felt as another bludger slammed into her head, knocking her off her broom and sending her tumbling down the last few feet towards the ground in a sort of aerial cartwheel. She landed on her bad shoulder and cried out in pain.

Within seconds Lily and Madam Pomfrey were helping her up and trying to get her stable enough to go to the infirmary, but Adelaide was much too preoccupied by the fight breaking out on the field— mostly wishing she was apart of it. Mary was rolling around on the ground pulling some girl's hair, Sirius was trying his hardest to punch Theodor Lee in the face, and James would have been in the fight if Blake Wood wasn't holding him back.

"YOU— TOLD— HIM— TO— DO— THAT!" Mary screamed between tugs of Felicitania Tugwood's hair. "I'LL— TEACH YOU— TO MESS WITH— MY BEST FRIEND— YOU— _BITCH_!"

Meanwhile, Sirius was still swinging toward the beater, letting out an incoherent stream of truly obscene curses as Jack Middleton and Evan Rosier tried to hold him back.

All in all, it was utter chaos.

Adelaide tried to break free of Poppy and Lily to give Theo a piece of her mind as well, when Lily pulled her wand out. "No Addy! Sit down! You could have a concussion!" Adelaide growled and tried to push past her, ignoring the throbbing pain coming from all over at this point, but the huffy ginger wasn't budging. "You will sit down before I _make_ you!" Lily snapped, bottle-green eyes narrowed into slits.

Adelaide knew that Lily didn't make empty threats and therefore sat down, begrudgingly. She caught one last fleeting glimpse of Remus decking the Ravenclaw beater before she finally succumbed to the throbbing pain in her head.

* * *

Evan walked up toward the Hospital wing later that evening with a purple stuffed dragon in hand. He figured he'd given Adelaide enough get-well teddy-bears from all her other visits to that blasted hospital and thought she might appreciate him mixing things up a bit. As he approached the doors he found that they were shut, with only a man with pale-blonde hair and high cheekbones sitting in the small waiting area, shuffling through news papers with picture perfect pureblood posture.

"Hello, Mr. Fawley." Evan said with a small smile, trying to awkwardly wave with the hand holding the dragon plushie before catching himself and waving with the other.

"Well hello, Evan." the man replied genially with a pleasantly surprised smile. Evan never really saw Mr. Fawley smile before this and decided he looked a lot more approachable when he did... Not unlike Adelaide.

"I um... I guess she's not taking visitors just yet, huh?" Evan chuckled, scratching the back of his neck as the other clutched the dragon plushie's leg a little tighter.

"Not just yet... but she's doing much better… she's been very well cared for by Sirius, of course, and that other friend of hers... Mary I believe it was." Mr. Fawley said, folding his news paper and gesturing for Evan to sit with him.

Evan smiled just at the mention of Mary's name as he took his seat. "Yeah... Mary's great..."

Filip gave the boy an odd look, not that Evan really noticed. "So, will I be seeing you at the spring Gala next week?"

"Oh no! I'm going to Iceland with Dad!" Evan said brightly. "He's finally letting me help out with some of the younger dragons." he grinned.

Mr. Fawley chuckled—another thing Evan hadn't really seen him do before. "I do remember him mentioning something about that, now that you mention it—I don't believe your mother was too keen on the idea..."

"Yeahhh... but she'll come around eventually... As long as the dragons don't singe off my eyebrows or something..." Evan shrugged with a smile. "So, did they say how long she's stuck here?" he asked, nodding toward the door that separated them from Adelaide.

Mr.Fawley sighed. "It all really depends on if her concussion has subsided..."

"Oh... well I hope she gets out soon... She'll be so bummed if she has to miss the game..." Evan frowned. "It's all she's talked about for months. I think she's hoping she'll run in to Gwendolyn Morgan again." he chuckled.

Mr. Fawley was entirely confused as to what Evan was talking about and thought he must have been mistaken. "The game?" Filip asked, sounding as unaffected and casual as ever.

Evan gave him a quizzical look, but figured he must have just been tired from sitting there all that time and forgot. "The Hollyhead Harpies game against the Appleby Arrows next Tuesday. Should be a really great match—Honestly, I'm dead jealous Mary picked Addy to go and not me!" he chuckled, fiddling with the stuffed dragon's wing. "Mary's parents are really nice people—well from what I could tell when they came to that gala we hosted, and from what Mary's said about them of course." he chuckled again. "It was really nice of you to let Addy go visit them... I just hope she gets better in time..." he ended a little sadly.

Mr. Fawley blinked, an unreadable expression in his cool blue eyes. "Well, like I said, she's being well cared for."

Evan nodded, then opened his mouth as if he was going to say something... then closed it... then opened it again. "Um... well I actually should head out, I have a prefects meeting in a bit and really can't be late... um do you think you could tell Mary I said hi? Oh! And Addy! Um... tell both Mary a-and Addy... hi... erm and I suppose Sirius too... actually you c-could just tell all of them I just said hi... and I um... I'm going to just go now..." Evan said, awkwardly heading out the entry way... before running back in, placing the purple dragon plushie down on the chair he was sitting in with a sheepish smile, then running out to his meeting once more.

Filip Fawley watched the awkward but kind boy run off, then stared at the purple dragon plushie, deep in thought.


	93. Chapter 93

**Chapter 93–I Messed Up**

It was late Saturday night and after a long afternoon and evening of trying her hardest to nurse Adelaide back to health in time for their train ride the next day, Mary finally scampered off to bed (though Adelaide strongly suspected that she just wanted to finish packing for the two of them). So, with her brunette best friend off to Gryffindor tower, Adelaide was left alone with Sirius as he did a thorough status check if her health (Poppy left him in charge of checking her progress over night since he'd be up with her anyway, and he was taking these duties quite seriously).

"Alright, Fawley." he began importantly, with his clipboard and fluffy white quill in hand. "Are you experiencing any ringing in your ears?"

"Nope." she shook her head.

"Any dizziness?"

Adelaide sat up a bit straighter in her hospital bed and her vision went a little out of focus as she reached to place her sketch book on the nightstand. "Uh... yes..."

"Hmm..." he hummed as he scribbled onto the parchment with a loud scratching noise, biting on his lower lip in concentration. "Okay, next..." he trailed off as he leaned forward so that his face was right in front of hers. She was mildly excited that he might kiss her... but he was just inspecting her eyes. "Uneven pupil dilation..." he murmured to himself as he scratched away on the parchment once more. "Alright... Now I need to check if your speech is slurred... so just repeat after me." Adelaide nodded. "I love Sirius Orion Black the Third."

Adelaide smirked. "I love... my shuper shexy healer boyfriend, Shirius Orion Black the Third." she said, intentionally slurring her words just to annoy him.

"Ugh! Addy! I need you to take this seriously!" he complained.

"I _Siriusly_ find you super sexy!" Adelaide said, mocking his annoyed tone.

Sirius rolled his eyes, but Adelaide could tell he appreciated her complement. "Okay... now how's the head doing?"

Adelaide frowned. Her minds eye was instantly filled with the image of a weird tapestry on the seventh floor of Barnabas the Barmy being whacked over the head with clubs as he tried to train some trolls for the ballet... That was probably the best description for how her head felt in that moment, but instead she said, "Still kind of hurts..."

Sirius frowned and looked at her with worry clouding his grey eyes. "You know it would hurt less if you'd just take some more of that painkiller potion, Ads—"

"No." Adelaide said firmly. "It'll make me all weird if I have anymore. If I talk to my dad later I don't want to accidentally blurt out something about going to Mary's..."

Sirius sighed. Of course that was the reason, he thought to himself. He wished, not for the first time, that either he or Adelaide had been able to talk to her father and clear this whole thing up... Unfortunately, Sirius was a bit too preoccupied to chit-chat after the game on account of trying to murder 'the little shit that tried to kill his girlfriend', and Adelaide had made it very clear that she wouldn't speak to her father unless under extreme duress (no matter how many times Sirius urged her otherwise). "Hmm... Fine... So, Any nausea?"

Adelaide took a long moment to consider this question. "Mmmm, yes."

Once again Sirius scribbled onto the clipboard, dark hair falling into his eyes with a sort of casual elegance that only he could achieve and Adelaide couldn't help but admire both how handsome he was becoming and how well he took care of her.

"You know, I think I agree with Poppy, Siri... you'd make a very good healer." Adelaide said thoughtfully with a soft smile. "You should really think about applying for that internship at Saint Mungo's—"

"No, not you too..." Sirius groaned. "Lily's going to be the healer, Ads, not me—"

"No! But Sirius you'd be great at it! You're brilliant at potions and the absolute _best_ at healing spells— and well you're just brilliant in general— besides, you'd be the most handsomest healer there ever was!" she grinned.

Sirius chuckled, obviously appreciating the complement as he smirked. "Well, when you put it like that..."

"So you'll apply!?" she asked hopefully.

Sirius smiled back at her, grey eyes soft. "I'll think about it."

"I'll charm you a mustache if you do." she said in a sing-song voice, poking his cheek in a very James Potter fashion.

"Are you trying to bribe me, Fawley?" he asked, raising one of his perfectly arched eyebrows as he smirked.

Adelaide nodded aggressively. "Yes, yes I am..." Apparently her aggressive nodding aggravated her still healing brain injury. "Ow..." she whimpered softly, closing her eyes and clutching the side of her head.

Sirius winced just seeing her in pain. "Addy, please just let me get you some more of the painkiller potion—"

"No." she said quietly, eyes still shut. "It'll go away on its own... I just need a second."

Carefully, Sirius climbed onto the bed at her side, gently pushed away some hair from her face to give her forehead a sweet kiss (that oddly enough made her headache subside by a fraction), then held her hand and let her curl up beside him as she waited for the pain to subside.

"Sirius..." she said after a few minutes, the pounding pain morphing into a dull throbbing. "Do you think I'll be well enough to go to Mary's tomorrow?"

"Well, maybe..." he said hesitantly. "...but it really doesn't look like it's going to happen, love..."

Adelaide frowned. She knew this would probably be the case—after all she could hardly sit up in bed without getting dizzy—but it was still hard to hear out loud. "Oh Mary's going to be so sad..."

Sirius frowned as well. While he knew Adelaide was looking forward to going to Mary's house and seeing her favorite team play, he also knew that the only real reason she was so dead set on going was because of Mary's near obsessive excitement. Mary would be more than sad, she'd be _crushed_. "Yeah... she will be...but hey, at least she and Evan finally made up." he added hopefully.

Adelaide looked at him in confusion, brows all scrunched together. "What? What are you talking about? He wouldn't even look at her this morning."

"Oh! I didn't tell you! That's why I was almost late to the game—I found her on the map... _with Evan_..." he smirked.

" _What?!_ No way! What did you do?!"

"Yes way! And I spied on them, of course!" he said, as if this should have been obvious while Adelaide nodded, as if this was a perfectly acceptable course of action. "Oh and Addy I wish you could have seen them— they were _chatting_... and smiling... and hugging..." Adelaide squealed in excitement. "And one day soon I suspect they will be snogging and then all will be right in the world!" he sighed with a far away smile, hamming things up a bit for Adelaide's amusement.

"You're such a sap." Adelaide giggled.

"You know you love it." he winked.

"True." she shrugged. "But you know what _else_ I love?" she smirked, pulling herself up and slowly moving closer and closer toward him, gaze flickering between his silvery grey eyes and his perfect (though slightly chapped) lips until she was only centimeters from his face.

"What do you love, Miss Fawley?" he whispered, breath hitching slightly from her proximity

"I love..." Slowly she pulled herself up closer, lips nearly touching his and her warm breath making the hairs framing his face tickle his skin and his heart race. She was so close that if Sirius wanted to, he could end this little game of hers and kiss her right then and there (which he was considering), but ultimately he decided against it, curious as to what she would do next. Slowly, torturously slowly, she moved past his mouth, up his jaw and sent a tingling shiver down his spine when her lips brushed against his ear and she whispered, " _Caramel popcorn..."_ lowly, just before swiftly backing away with a self-satisfied smirk. "Be a good dog and go fetch some for me, won't you?" she giggled, patting him on the head, much to his annoyance.

"No, no, _no_! Just because you're all broken does _not_ mean you get to do that to me, you little tease!" he complained, trying to pull her closer. "Kiss me!" he whined pitifully.

Adelaide squirmed away as she laughed, "I'll kiss you after you bring me the goods, Black!"

"Nope! I want payment in advance!" he said cheekily, theatrically puckering up his lips as he moved in closer, internally marveling at how cute she looked when she laughed.

Adelaide giggled and scurried over to the foot of the bed so that she was pinned against the metal railing. "Ahck! No! I said no kisses, Mr. Padfoot!" she laughed as he came closer, looking rather like a fish.

"Well I say _yes kisses_ , future Mrs. Padfoot!" he insisted just before making silly kissy noises.

"No! Stay back you mangy mutt! I'm warning you!" Adelaide said through her giggles, skillfully dodging his attempts to smooch her and reaching for her wand off of the table at the end of the bed.

While she was looking away to grab her wand, Sirius swooped in and finally made it close enough to kiss her cheek with a loud and dramatic, " _mwah_!" then pulled away only to find that his precious hair had been charmed a jarring shade of Slytherin green. "Oh, it's on now, Mrs. Padfoot!" he growled mischievously as Adelaide continued to laugh loudly, nearly in tears.

* * *

Two or so hours after Mr. Fawley's very informative conversation with Evan Rosier, and an hour after Mary went off to bed, Poppy Pomfrey finally gave the okay for the man to visit with his daughter.

He walked into the infirmary, hollow footsteps upon the stone floors drowned out by Sirius and Adelaide's uproarious laughter. They were clearly unaware of his presence as they took turns jinxing each other's hair different colors— Sirius's usual midnight locks were now a shimmering, glittering purple hue, while Adelaide's own soft, nearly-white hair was a vibrant and unnatural shade of red.

"Do I look like Lilith?" Adelaide giggled, dramatically flipping her jinxed hair behind her shoulder. "Potter, you're such an arrogant toe-rag— be gone with you!" she said in a snooty voice, shooing away some imaginary person before they both burst into laughs again.

Filip almost felt bad that he was about to ruin their fun. Almost.

He cleared his throat and the two instantly turned to face him, wide smiles quickly fading from their youthful faces. "You seem to be feeling better." he said in his usual, casual and nearly emotionless voice as he sat down in a wooden chair at her bed side.

Adelaide swiftly undid the jinxes on their hair when she saw his look of slight disapproval. "I-I am..." she said quietly, tucking her now pale-blonde hair behind her ear. "Head still kind of hurts though..."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "It would hurt _less_ if you'd just take the stupid painkiller potions—"

"I told you, they make me _weird_." Adelaide said through her teeth with a pointed look, as if she was trying to wordlessly convey something to the boy.

Sirius instantly looked back at her with an equally pointed look, glancing briefly back to Filip, but after half a moment his lips quirked into a smirk as he said, "You're already weird."

"Oh shut it!" Adelaide said, more amused than annoyed. "Go make yourself useful and get me that caramel popcorn from the kitchens, you hideous hound." she said as she pushed him with her right arm (her left shoulder was obviously still healing).

"Ahck! Gerroff me! I'm going! I'm going, woman!" he laughed. "Want anything to eat, Mr. Fawley?" Sirius asked brightly to the man.

Filip was a little taken aback by his uncharacteristically polite demeanor toward him, but made sure not to show this. "No, thank you, Sirius." he said politely.

Sirius looked at the man for a moment, then back to Adelaide, once again trying to silently communicate with her... Filip suspected that Adelaide knew exactly what he was trying to say as she suddenly became even more annoyed by her boyfriend's presence. "Ugh! Just go! He said he didn't want anything!" she huffed, throwing a purple ball of fluff at the boy as he ran away chuckling. Adelaide watched her boyfriend go, then directed her attention to the purple dragon plushie she just realized was in her father's hands, marveling at the indigo spots on its back and its iridescent, opal-like wings.

"Oh! Is that for me?!" she asked hopefully, pointing to the dragon with a grin.

Mr. Fawley looked down at the dragon he momentarily forgot was in his possession, then handed it to her with a small smile. "Oh... Yes... Evan brought it by earlier when he came to see how you were doing." he said, voice still casual and calm.

"Awe, that was sweet of him." she said with a smile, inspecting the newest addition to her ever growing purple plushie collection, glancing up to her father happily.

It was in that moment that Filip gave Adelaide a look that she recognized in an instant—cool blue eyes cutting through her like a blade—It was the look he always gave just before he scolded her. "Yes... it was," he began calmly. "We had a rather nice chat, Evan and I... Though he was quite worried you wouldn't be well in timeto see the Holyhead Harpies with Mary..."

Adelaide gulped, heart pounding against her bruised ribs while her stomach sank and her breath shook. Sirius was right, she should have just told him. Of course Evan, being the lovable idiot he was, would spill the beans. "I-I um... I can explain..." she said in a soft and shaky voice, trying and failing to come off as confident, wishing her hospital bed would spontaneously swallow her whole.

"Please do." he said calmly once again.

"Well... You see... M-Mary got the tickets for Christmas and her parents let her pick someone to go... and she picked me, of course—I'm more of a sister to her than her real sisters are..." Adelaide said quietly, eyes fixed on the dragon plushy as she fiddled with one of its blue-ish claws—Filip couldn't tell if she was unable or unwilling to speak to him directly. "And it's the-the Holyhead Harpies, sir... and they're our absolute favorite... And she was— _is_ so excited— and I knew she-she'd be devastated if I said I couldn't go! And I mean the McDonalds they... they're pureblood... and half the school thinks she's a blood purist because she's my friend... and even Evan thinks she's okay... I—I know you don't like me going places... and I didn't _want_ to lie... but I just — I-I really just didn't want to let her down..." she ended awkwardly, as if she wasn't sure if that was all there was to say, but thought she'd gone on long enough and needed to stop speaking.

Filip remained silent for a moment, choosing his words carefully. When he initially found out what her secret plans were from Evan, he suspected that it was purely an act of rebellion, but now he could tell that was not the case... well, not _entirely_ at least. He knew he would have to be careful not to be too hard on her or else he risked spurring her toward _actually_ rebelling, but he also had to be firm with her so that she understood the gravity of her actions and that what she did was most certainly _not_ okay. It was a delicate balance he wasn't entirely sure if he was capable of achieving, but with a deep breath he gave it his best. "Adelaide... after everything I've told you about why you can't go to blood-traitor's homes—about what could happen to your friends and their families if the wrong people found out—what could _possibly_ make you believe this was a wise decision to make? Never mind your outright dishonesty to me... What of your friend? If Mary really is as close as a sister to you, why in the world would you _ever_ risk putting her and her family in danger like that?" he asked intensely.

Adelaide felt the blood drain from her face. As much as she hated it, she knew he had a point. She'd thought about how her actions might affect herself... but honestly hadn't thought at all of how it might affect Mary's family were Riddle to find out and instantly felt ashamed that she'd nearly put a target on their backs, especially with how paranoid Mr. McDonald was already. "I-I was _going_ to tell—erm _ask_ you if I could go—well _Sirius_ was... a-after the game..." Adelaide mumbled nervously, dodging his question. "B-but then the bludger—"

" _You_ should have asked, Adelaide. And not the day before you were set to leave." he said sternly. "You know better than that—we raised you better than that."

Adelaide knew just by his tone of voice that he would be giving her a look of deep disapproval, and between this and the guilt threatening to crush her, once again she couldn't bring herself to face him. Despite their deception in regards to Alexander and the utter cruelty inflicted upon her by her mother... there was still something deep within that craved her parents' approval... their love... Some primal longing within her heart yearned for them to be proud of her... and knowing he was so disappointed with her in that moment only made her painful yearning that much more obvious.

"Adelaide, I understand that you want more freedom... at your age it's to be expected... Natural even... but you _cannot_ keep something like this from me." he said firmly. "You can't just go galavanting off who knows where without a word just because you want to. It's dangerous."

"I-I understand, sir." she said softly, eyes still fixed on the stuffed dragon, counting its indigo spots (there were 7).

"Now, I think your current concussed state is probably punishment enough for now... Along with you _staying at the school_ over the holiday... But if _anything_ like this happens again, Adelaide, there will be severe consequences."

Finally, Adelaide's head jerked up to face him—her mind swirled with images of her mother standing over her, wand raised with hawk like eyes narrowed onto her as she screamed that awful word. "When you say c-consequences you don't mean—"

Her father's face soften marginally. "I do not mean that curse..." he said solemnly. "No one will use that spell on you again, Adelaide—not if I have anything to say about it."

Adelaide let out a loud breath that she didn't even know she was holding. "Then-then what...?" she trailed of, voice breathy and shaky.

"Well..." he began slowly and quietly, as if he was trying to not frighten her. "We would have to consider the possibility of sending you to another school."

Adelaide's eyes just about popped out of her head in shock. "W-WHAT?! NO! Hell no! Absolutely not! I'm _not_ leaving! You can't make me leave!"

"Adelaide, I didn't _say_ you were leaving, I just said it was something we might have to consider if this behavior becomes a pattern... I know you love it here and I know how much you are learning— even if your grades don't always reflect it... But it _is_ something that's on the table and I feel it's only fair that you are warned— that you understand what kind of repercussions your actions can have..."

Adelaide heard his words, but still couldn't quite wrap her mind around the matter. Her mother had threatened to pull her from Hogwarts for ages, but her father had never mentioned anything to that degree... There something about _him_ saying it (and saying it so calmly) seemed to make it more legitimate and _much_ more terrifying. "What— what school...?" Adelaide asked, unable to stifle her curiosity despite her anxiety. She'd never feel her toes again if he sent her to Durmstrang, she thought to herself, those savages don't even use fireplaces... And that creepy ship Rob told her about _definitely_ would not help with her nightmares.

"Beauxbatons." Filip answered simply.

" _France_?!" Adelaide asked in incredulous horror. "You're going to ship me of to bloody _France_?!" For some reason France seemed even worse than Scandinavia in Adelaide's concussed mind.

"No—not yet anyway... This would only be as a last resort, Adelaide... I don't want you to leave Hogwarts anymore than you do... But if worse comes to worse... That would be our next course of action—Your mother and I toured the school when we found out you were sorted into Gryffindor—we feared you wouldn't want to stay at Hogwarts since you didn't get into Slytherin— But Beauxbatons is a perfectly respectable school with a very good bilingual program and their herbology department is world renowned..."

While Filip continued to list off the French school's various redeeming qualities, Adelaide stared off at nothing in particular, the wheels of her mind spinning much too fast to really comprehend anything her father was saying beyond that he would send her to bloody _France._ "I'd starve..." she muttered quietly, putting an abrupt end to his sentence about some 'magnificent' park fountain, not that she really noticed.

"Pardon?"

"They eat such weird food in France... frog legs and snails... I'd never eat again... I'd just waste away..." she muttered to herself as her fingers fiddled with her sleeve, thinking about all of those silly blue uniforms she'd seen pictures of. "I-I _can't_ go to _France_... besides... I look _terrible_ in blue... oh and Sirius..." her mind was instantly filled with the image of a black dog running across the French country side in search of her—then she imagined him flying in on a thunderbird (again in dog form for some strange reason), grinning as he tried to kidnap her— Neither were ideal.

Filip frowned, besides the fact that he sincerely doubted she looked _terrible_ in anything, he could tell he may have just traumatized her more than intended. "Sweetie, you're staying here... Over the holiday and until further notice... You do understand, don't you?"

Adelaide nodded quickly. "Y-yes, sir..."

She understood that if she wasn't the perfect daughter he'd ship her off to bloody _France._

* * *

"RISE AND SHINE, ADDY BELL!" called a particularly cheerful voice, stirring Adelaide from her less than restful slumber. She rolled over in her bed and grumbled unintelligibly into her pillow. "Come on, Ads! I let you sleep in, but now you really need to get up!" Mary insisted.

"No, go away." Adelaide murmured into the pillow grumpily. She was too tired and her head hurt too much for her to really understand Mary's enthusiasm.

"No, you big grump! We leave in a matter of _hours!_ Now, I went ahead and finished packing for you, but you should double check to make sure I didn't forget anything, then you need to shower and get ready in time to grab some breakfast— Merlin knows I am not going a whole train ride with Hangry Addy!" Mary chuckled. "Now, up we go!" she said, gingerly pulling the girl upright and handing her some potions that Adelaide knew would help her headache subside.

As Adelaide obediently gulped down the liquid, the events of the night before all started to come back to her. After the less than ideal conversation with her father, Madam Pomfrey all but forced a sleeping potion down her throat which was quite effective and knocked her out well before Sirius returned from the kitchens with her popcorn, meaning she still hadn't had a chance to talk to him and relate her father's ultimatum about staying at the school... and possibly sending her off to bloody _France_. If Sirius knew that her father had banned her from going home with the McDonalds over easter holidays, she was sure he would have saved her from this terribly uncomfortable situation.

A heaviness weighed upon Adelaide's chest as she fought for the right way to break the news to her kind hearted, emotional best friend. "Um... Mary... erm, I-I can't go." she said awkwardly, feeling afterwards like maybe she should have said more.

"Oh yes you can!" Mary said quickly, practically bouncing on her heels as she grinned—she looked almost like she was expecting Adelaide to say something like this. "I ran the whole thing over with Pomfrey this morning and she said that as long as you take things easy and take all the potions she prescribed, she didn't see any reason why you couldn't go home with us! Sirius is with her right now getting everything ready! Oh this is going to be so much fun!" Mary gushed.

Adelaide stared back at her blankly. She couldn't remember a time she had ever seen Mary this happy before. How was she ever going to tell her the truth? Mary knew nothing about Tom Riddle and his weird obsession with her, much less the fact that he was actually Voldemort and had spies that would know in an instant that she'd been consorting with a family of known blood-traitors. Adelaide never wanted to burden or worry Mary with all those dark parts of her life, but now, she didn't know how she could afford not to.

Mary seemed to sense Adelaide's unease and sat beside her on the bed. "It's going to be great, Addy. I promise." she said reassuringly. "I wrote mum and let her know that you're recovering from a concussion and she's going to take great care of you. And we don't have to do anything you aren't up for— If you can't stay for the whole game it's perfectly fine— so don't even worry about that. We all completely understand— the important part is that you'll be there, even if it's just for a little bit."

Still, Adelaide remained quiet, mouth slightly parted as she wrestled within herself. All she wanted was to go with her. To risk everything if it meant that she could keep from hurting her... but even then, she would be putting Mary in danger.

"You look like you're going to puke." Mary commented, summoning the pale she had been vomiting in the day before when her concussion was at its worst.

Adelaide shook her head. "I-I'm fine." she said quietly, pushing away the pale Mary was now shoving in her face.

"You don't look fine... Here—" she said, shoving the pale in her arms once more and rising from the bed. "I'll go talk to Pomfrey and have her get you something—"

"No— Mary, wait!" Adelaide said in a voice that didn't sound like her own. Her hands shook with nerves and she was mildly thankful for the bucket in her hands as she suddenly felt quite nauseous at the thought of letting Mary down.

"No, Addy— We really don't have time, the train leaves soon— I promise I'll be back quicker than you can say Quidditch—"

"Mary, please!" Adelaide said a little louder than she intended. "I-I—I um..." she stammered as Mary looked at her in confusion. "I-I can't go, Mare." she said apologetically, tears blurring her vision slightly.

"Yes, you can." Mary corrected. "I literally just told you that Poppy cleared you—"

"No—I know that... I-I just can't go."

Adelaide suspected that Mary still wasn't taking her seriously as she calmly sat on the bed once more. "Addy, look—I know you— And I _know_ that doing new things scares you— but this is going to be great, you have absolutely _nothing_ to worry about. My parents have been going on for weeks asking all about your favorite things so that they'd have everything ready for you— They already adore you— Woah, Ads don't cry!" Mary said in surprise, leaping to snag some tissues from her bedside. "It's your head, isn't it? Oh, Sirius said that headache of yours was awful—"

"No! Please, Mary! Please, just stop! I can't go!" Adelaide said loudly as tears tumbled down her cheeks. The more kind and reassuring Mary was, the worse it made everything. "I said I can't go!"

"I don't understand." Mary said shaking her head. "I thought— I thought you wanted to go... we have matching jerseys... you said you wanted to go..."

"I do! I do want to go!" Adelaide defended, horrified that Mary could ever think that she didn't.

"So then what's the problem?"

"I can't—" her words cut off and her mouth went dry. She couldn't explain why. She just couldn't. "I just can't go."

Mary frowned. "You're going to have to come up with a better excuse than that, Addy... Pomfrey said it's fine, you just said you want to go, even your dad's on board..." Mary trailed off as she caught a guilty expression flash upon Adelaide's tearstained face. "Addy? Your dad is okay with all of this, right?"

Adelaide's tears fell harder. "I'm so s-sorry, Mary..."

Mary's kind face morphed into a mixture of anger and bewilderment. "No! But I thought he said it was okay?! You wrote to him ages ago— he can't just change his mind last minute!"

"Mary— I-I messed up..."

"What do you mean you _messed up_?" Mary asked, perfectly enunciating every word. Adelaide couldn't bring herself to speak. "Addy! Answer me!"

"I knew he would just say no..."

"YOU DIDN'T EVEN ASK HIM?!" Mary asked shrilly. "WHAT THE HELL, ADDY!?"

"I told you I messed up!" Adelaide said pathetically. "Mary, I'm so sorry! I didn't think he would find out! I thought it would be okay!"

"Well it's not okay, is it?! You've known for _months_ — you knew how big a deal this was— and you _lied_ to me— I can't believe you, Addy!" Mary said as she stood up from the bed.

"Mary, please— I'm so sorry!"

"Save it." Mary said, storming out of the infirmary leaving her crying mess of a best friend behind.

Adelaide watched her go, flinching when the girl slammed the doors to the infirmary behind her. As loud as their argument was, Adelaide was sure that Sirius would be running in to check on them any second. If he knew what happened, there was no doubt in Adelaide's mind that he would do everything in his power to console her—but she didn't deserve his consolation.

She wasn't the victim in this; she was the villain. She was the one who messed this whole thing up with her lies, no matter how pure her intentions. She was the one who hurt Mary and who pissed off her father enough for him to threaten to send her away.

It was all her fault.

Right on cue, Adelaide could hear footsteps coming from the room where Poppy and Sirius must have been fixing up a weeks supply of potions and concoctions for her now botched trip. Without another thought, Adelaide ran across the room toward the door of the infirmary in nothing but her nightgown, bare-feet padding against the cold stone floors as she tried to outrun the duo of footsteps fast approaching.

She slipped through the doors, checked that the coast was clear, then instantly morphed into a fluffy, white, Norwegian Forest Cat and bolted down the corridor.

As she ran aimlessly through the castle, trying her best to put distance between her and Poppy's black-haired protégé, the first thing she realized was that cats must not be able to cry, as her tears had ceased (though the emotions behind those tears were fully in tact)— the second, was that she was unknowingly headed toward Gryffindor tower.

It made sense that she would try to go there first— all she really wanted in that particular moment was to take a shower as Mary suggested, then curl up in her own bed and hope that when she awoke, all of this would be a bad dream. But there was a very good chance that she would run into the brunette Gryffindor were she to act upon this whim, and therefore she had to choose a new destination for her feline brooding.

Swiftly, she changed her direction and half-ran toward a shortcut behind a tapestry, deciding that she would be better off going somewhere outdoors. Nature had always had an odd way of calming her down when life was spinning out of control, it was the reason she always stole away to her garden when she was upset at home— and if her recovered memories were anything to go by, she suspected Alexander felt the same… which made her feel close to him in an odd way.

She was fast approaching the tapestry, little feline paws falling upon the ground in near silence (she had always been much sneakier in the animagus form than as a human), when she heard a horribly familiar, high pitched voice squeal, "FLUFFY?!" and scoop her up into her grabby little arms. "Oh, Fluffy! It _is_ you!" the girl gushed, squeezing the white cat into an unwanted hug. "I thought I'd never see you again!"

Adelaide thought that her day couldn't possibly get any worse after her argument with Mary... but now, trapped in the arms of none other than stupid, toad-faced, Dolores Jane Umbridge, she realized it most certainly could.


	94. Chapter 94

**Chapter 94–** **Floofs and The Slytherin Savior**

Adelaide was so stunned from the strange turn of events, that she didn't even think to wrestle out of Dollie's grip as the toad-faced catnapper whisked her away down the corridor.

"Oh Fluffy! I'm so happy I found you—Though, it is a bit odd you're here... You're Sirius's cat I bet. Oh he's _so_ handsome..." Dollie gushed, squeezing the life out of her now nauseous cat captive. "I'll bring you back to him later... but I don't see why we can't have a bit of fun until then!— Oh! I can't _wait_ to show you to Madge!" she trilled.

 _This_ caught Adelaide's attention. Madge Farley and Adelaide had developed a friendship of sorts over the past month or so that was founded upon a mutual hatred of three things: Micheal Avery, asparagus, and Dolores Jane Umbridge. Adelaide wondered if this was part of some ridiculously ill founded scheme to get her sassy Slytherin roommate to like her, or if Dollie was really so stupid as to not realize that Madge despised her existence, cat or no cat. Either way, Adelaide thought perhaps it would be worth it to see how things played out—it seemed to be a very good distraction if nothing else, and if things went south she figured she could easily claw ol' Toadie's ankles and make a run for it...

"First things first, though— you need a good brushing, little miss." Dollie tutted as she made her way down the marble staircase and on towards a door on the right side of the entrance hall. Adelaide recognized it as the door Regulus and Evan always popped out of on their way to breakfast, and as Dollie climbed down the stairs on the other side that led to an unfamiliar part of the dungeons, she realized that this idiot was about to take her to the Slytherin Common Room.

Countless times over the years, Adelaide had begged Regulus and Evan to smuggle her into the illusive snake den, but every attempt had been squashed with them stating, 'no outsider has entered in over seven centuries'... Adelaide internally cackled— if they only knew that record was about to be broken by her, via one of their own slimy serpents.

Delores approached a rather unimpressive, bare stretch of stone wall and stopped at about the half-way point, then said, "Semina magnitudine," (which Adelaide recognized roughly translated to 'seed of greatness' in latin). At those words, a passage magically revealed itself and Delores walked into the infamous Slytherin Common room.

The long, low, and greenish underground room with its rough stone walls and ceiling was rather dreary, Adelaide thought, in comparison to the warm and cozy Gryffindor Common room she was accustomed to. There were several greenish lamps hanging on creaking chains and a fire crackling under an elaborately carved mantelpiece ahead of them with several Slytherins silhouetted around it in carved chairs— one of which happened to be none other than the ever-despicable, weasel faced Micheal Avery.

"What the hell is that supposed to be?!" he called with a sneer to the mousy haired girl, clearly referring to the white cat.

"This is Fluffy." Dollie said tersely, paying no mind to the boy as she scurried past him and a notice board, toward a staircase on the other end of the room that led downward.

"Well it's hideous—you should really put that ugly thing out of it's misery." he cackled alongside his thuggish friends. Adelaide took instant offense and growled with her ears pulled back. She knew for a fact that she was a _beautiful_ cat. Sirius always said so.

"Don't listen to the mean little boy, Fluffy." Dollie murmured to the cat as she walked down the stairs toward what Adelaide realized was probably her dormitory. "He's been in a terrible mood lately. Can't really blame him though— I heard that horrible Fawley girl did something to irritate him again—She's so uncivilized. I dunno why everyone thinks she's so perfect." she grumbled.

Adelaide's ears perked up at the mention of her name, oddly pleased that their hatred for one another was mutual.

"Oh I bet you know all about how terrible she is with how she clings to Sirius." she continued, approaching a big silvery door on the fourth landing. "She's no where near good enough for him..." she sighed. "But I suppose it isn't his fault— I bet you anything she's just got him under her _Veela_ charms... nasty half-breed atrocity... but it'll wear off eventually, mark my words, Fluffy."

Adelaide was about to bite the ignorant annoying twit that was holding her hostage when one of her stumpy little hands opened the door to the dormitory.

The room was a bit more cave-like than Adelaide expected, with ancient four-poster beds much like in her own dorm, only with green silk hangings instead of Gryffindor red, and serpentine figures wrapping their way around each poster. There was a light greenish haze to the room and the lake water lapping against the windows which made Adelaide really need to use the loo (or perhaps the litter box, given her present state). Silver lanterns hung from the ceilings and the walls were decorated with gaudy Slytherin crests and ugly Medieval tapestries depicting the adventures of various famous Slytherins.

It was quite obvious which bed was Dollie's as it was decorated in nauseating amounts of pink—a pink blanket covering the bed—pink throw pillows on her bed and the chair beside it, each with ugly embroidered images of kittens— a pink night robe hanging on a peg on the wall— A pink shag-rug on the floor between her bed and her desk— A pink quill upon her desk with matching frilly pink stationary and desk supplies...

It was a nightmare.

Adelaide had to look away so that she didn't cough up a hairball from disgust, and looked instead to another bed on the opposite side of the room... and to her great surprise spied something familiar— a charmed drawing hung up on the wall of a flying welsh green dragon. It was something she'd doodled when she was avoiding doing homework one day in study hall with Evan, Regulus, and Madge— the Slytherin girl was rather impressed and asked if she could keep the doodle as Welsh Greens were allegedly her absolute favorite. This was early on in their knowing each other and Adelaide always suspected that she'd only asked for the doodle to make fun of it behind her back... but now, Adelaide realized that Madge _actually_ liked it... so much so that she'd hung it up beside her Caerphilly Catapults banner... Perhaps she was more okay than Adelaide thought.

Adelaide's musings were brought to an abrupt halt when a brush was yanked through her soft, albeit a little messy, fur.

"MEROOW!" she yelped in protest, trying to squirm out of the toady girl's clingy clutches to no avail.

"No! Stop it, Fluffy! Stay still! We're almost done! This is for your own good!" Dollie said as she continued to rake through Adelaide's fur with a wiry brush that smelled horribly sickly sweet, as if it's bristles were laced with fairy-floss.

After two more horrible minutes of aggressive brushing, Dollie seemed satisfied with the state of her feline captive's fur. Adelaide, however, felt like a big ugly fluff ball.

In her human form, Adelaide was a little self-conscious about her appearance (though Sirius's constant affirmation was beginning to undo some of the lasting effects of her mothers verbal abuse), but as a cat, she'd always felt confident that she was both graceful and beautiful. How this little troll managed to make her beautiful cat self feel hideous, Adelaide would never know.

"Much better." Dollie said decidedly with a nod. "But you still need something...OH! I have _just_ the thing!"

With the cat still in her arms, Dollie ran as fast as her squat little legs would take her across the room to what Adelaide figured was the restroom. Again, it looked similar to the Gryffindor girls restroom (though perhaps a bit tidier), with the exception of the green shower curtains and hangings rather than red, and silver serpentine frames around the mirrors along the wall of vanities rather than the simple carved wooden frames of her own— and once again, it was painfully obvious which vanity was Dollie's as it practically glowed pink.

The toad-faced girl had a wide assortment of pink head-bands, pink bows, pink ribbons, and pink hats strewn about, as well as pink towels, pink slippers beside a pink stool, and on her vanity sat an atrocious pink doily upon which her gobs of cheap make up rested... and most horrible of all, there was a photograph, tacked up on the mirror of none other than Sirius Orion Black the Third (looking rather aloof, Adelaide noted) with a pink lipstick stain from where presumably Dollie's lips had kissed his poor photographed face.

Adelaide didn't even have time to be properly horrified because in an instant, her captor grabbed a big pink silk ribbon and wrapped it around her overly fluffy throat. Adelaide darkly thought that perhaps she would strangle her with the ribbon and save her from the embarrassment of having to wear it. But, alas, she didn't.

"OH! YOU LOOK _PERFECT_!" Dollie gushed, shrill and affected girly voice reverberating off of the rough stone walls and making Adelaide's headache return at full force.

"Good Merlin! What have you done to that poor cat, Delores?" asked a familiar voice.

"Her name is Fluffy! Isn't she _adorable_ , Madge?!" Dollie said, turning to face a dark-haired witch much taller than her, with pale skin, intense black eyebrows, and piercing sea-blue eyes that practically radiated distaste for the toady girl in front of her.

Madge ignored her question and instead asked, "Where did she come from?" with her hands on her hips.

"I found her... She was lost and roaming around the halls, about to run face first into a wall when I rescued her." Dollie giggled.

Adelaide's ears went back and her eyes narrowed at the thought of Dollie thinking she 'rescued' her when she was really just trying to go through a short-cut to the grounds.

"Right... Well I'm sure her owner's worried sick, we should take her back—"

"NO!" Dollie said stubbornly, holding Adelaide even tighter, making it very difficult for her poor crushed kitty lungs to get air, and aggravating her still healing shoulder wound. "I already know her owner and I'm quite certain he won't mind my spending time with her." she added in a sickly sweet voice ending in yet another headache inducing giggle.

Adelaide struggled against her grip. As interesting as it had been to sneak through the forbidden Slytherin common room and dormitories, she was well past her limit of quality time with Dollie and the painkiller potion she'd taken that morning was most certainly wearing off.

"Delores, put her down! She obviously doesn't want you to hold her—"

"—No! She loves me—"

Adelaide squirmed even more, now desperate to put as much space between her and the horribly pink girl as possible.

"For God's sake! Put her down, you twat! She's going to hurt herself if you don't!" Madge scolded harshly, pulling out her wand.

"Oh, shut up, Madge! Like you know anything about cats! You couldn't even keep that filthy, flea ridden beast of yours alive—"

All of a sudden Adelaide was freed from Dollie's arms, pouncing onto the floor with a triumphant "mew", then ran to hide under a vanity, far out of reach.

It wasn't until this point that she realized Madge had just hexed Delores Umbridge's head into a big, slimy, flailing, octopus tentacle.

"Come on, Floofs—or whatever your name is—" Madge said casually, beckoning her toward the door. "Miss Toadie isn't going to mess with you anymore."

Adelaide jumped to chase after her Slytherin savior's heels, purring loudly with her big fluffy white tail held high as she followed her out the dormitory and up the stone stairs that led to the common room. Before they reached the topmost landing, however, the dark haired girl stopped and reached into the pocket of her robes for her driftwood wand. With a quick flick, muttering an incantation Adelaide had never heard before, her once horribly fluffy fur was sleek and smooth and her ribbon had been turned black, rather than the awful shade of pink it was before.

"I thought the ribbon actually looked nice on you—but you can rip it off if you want." Madge said with a shrug, walking up to the common room.

"Oi, Madge! What's with the cat?" called a dark haired boy Adelaide didn't recognize. The Slytherin boy trotted toward her then crouched down and smiled at the feline. He had a kind face with a slightly crooked nose, some acne scars on his cheeks, and piercing sea-blue eyes that bore a striking resemblance to Madge's. He was also a Slytherin prefect, as indicated by the badge on his dark green robes—Evan was the fifth year prefect, which meant this boy had to have been a sixth or seventh year.

"Not sure where she came from exactly, but I just saved her from _Delores_..." Madge said with a smirk as the mystery boy cautiously started to scratch behind Adelaide's ears, making her purr even louder. "She started bad mouthing Guppy again..." she continued, causing the boy to jerk his head up to face her. Adelaide inferred that Guppy must have been Madge's old cat.

"Oh, Madge please don't tell me you hexed her again—" the boy practically begged, still absentmindedly petting Adelaide.

Madge's smirk widened and she opened her mouth to speak, but he cut her off. "No— seriously, please don't tell me! I don't want to have to write you up for doing something noble!" he said sincerely.

Madge laughed and ruffled his hair. "Oh, calm down, Jakey! I won't tell you... but I will say that she only got what was coming to her."

Adelaide purred louder in agreement while 'Jakey' rolled his eyes in exasperation and swatted her hand away. "Mum won't like it if you get written up again..."

"Oh, she's used to it by now," Madge said with a dismissive wave to the boy Adelaide now realized was her brother, Jake, whom she had mentioned a few times in passing. "So, do you want to help me find out who she belongs to?" Madge asked in earnest.

The boy stood up and looked at his watch. "Well, I sort of have a study... session... thing... in fifteen minutes... sooo..."

"Oh, right! Big date with Isabella!" she grinned as the boy blushed slightly and muttered 'it's not a date.' "No worries, I'll just go bug Reg or Charlie to help me." she shrugged lightly causing 'Jakey' to chuckle.

"They were both still down in their dorm last time I checked—but I um..." he scooted in closer and lowered his voice, as if he was afraid someone might hear him. "I heard a rumor that Avery's going to pull a stunt on some little Hufflepuffs later... It'd be good if you could get Charlie to hang out with you instead..."

Madge nodded knowingly and after saying some final parting pleasantries she made her way down a different staircase to the left of the one they'd just come up from.

"You'll like Reg, he's got a real thing for animals... mostly birds, but I'm sure he'll think you're adorable." Madge said, sparing a quick look back to the cat that was happily following after her. "Oh and fair warning, my brother Charlie can be a real git," she added as they approached the third landing. Without warning Madge began to bang loudly on the silvery door making Adelaide jump slightly with surprise. "HOPE YOU'RE DECENT 'CAUSE I'M COMING IN!" she called out as she opened the door, not even waiting for a reply. Adelaide waited a moment before following— she'd managed to go nearly four years without seeing any 'un-decent' boys, and she really didn't want to break that record now.

"Back again, Margie?" wheezed another familiar voice. "Always a pleasure..."

Adelaide slowly padded into the third year Slytherin boys' dormitory (which smelled considerably worse than the girls') and caught sight of a squat and lumpy boy with a pallid, doughy, pig-like face and tiny eyes— her cousin, Amycus Carrow.

"Shut it, Carrow." Madge snapped fiercely as he let out a wheezy giggle that made Adelaide's fur stand up on end.

Even Adelaide's own awful mother despised his father (her brother and Adelaide's uncle) and the whole lot of their side of the family (excluding Adelaide's Aunt Patricia, her mother's twin sister who lived in Austria). They rarely ever spent time with the Carrows if they could help it and it wasn't hard to see why— even by pure-blood standards he and the rest of his family were detestable, jealous, greedy, ill-mannered, and just generally awful people (or at least that's how Cathryn Fawley always described them).

"Ignore him." drawled another boy from his bed. If Adelaide could have grinned, she would have. There her Little Reggie sat upon his perfectly made Slytherin green duvet, languidly waving around a bird treat to make a rather energetic bright green fwooper fly around in graceful loops. It was the exact mental image she'd always had of him in his dorm room.

"I'll do my best..." Madge grumbled, sending a deliciously nasty look to the other boy that was intimidating enough to send him running out of the room without another word.

Regulus rolled his eyes at her antics and sent the tear-drop shaped bird back onto his birdie perch. "So, care to explain the cat?"

"This is Floofs... or something... I dunno what her real name is, but I just rescued her from Dollie." Madge explained as she bounced onto his bed with ease, patting the mattress for Adelaide to follow suit.

" _Floofs_?" Regulus laughed.

"I thought it was sort of cute." she shrugged.

"Better than 'Guppy', that's for sure." sniggered another boy who held himself proudly, with his sleek short black hair slicked back, and who had the same piercing sea-blue eyes as Madge and 'Jakey'—this must have been her other brother Charlie.

"Charles, I don't have time for you to make fun of my cat naming abilities today." she said sassily. "I'm on a very important mission."

"An important mission? You don't say..." Regulus said lazily with a slight smirk.

"Yes. I need to reunite Floofs with her owner and you two," she said pointing to the two of them dramatically, "are going to help me!"

Charlie chuckled. "No can do, sis—I've got an important mission of my own to attend to."

Madge frowned. "If you're going to go hang out with Avery and his stupid friends again, I think your time would be better spent with me." she said with an odd rawness to her voice.

Charlie's face contorted into a mixture of different emotions that Adelaide didn't have time to decipher. "Just mind your own business, Madge." he muttered grumpily as he grabbed his bag and walked out the room in a huff.

"See what I said? He can be such a git..." she said quietly to Adelaide who nodded knowingly, forgetting that she was in fact, still a cat.

Regulus chuckled a bit more at her odd familiarity with the white cat.

"So, Reg. Are you going to help me reunite poor sweet floofers with her owner?" Madge asked in a baby voice, picking up the cat and putting her cute little face right into his. Adelaide played along, giving the cat equivalent of puppy dog eyes.

Regulus looked back at her, clearly trying to not be wooed over by her cuteness as he pushed her away. "I'd love to help, Madge...Really. But I need to catch up with Addy before she leaves for the week..."

Adelaide caught a glimpse of Regulus's sad face before Madge gingerly lowered her back down to the bed.

"You ever going to tell me why you went all berserk on her at breakfast yesterday?" Madge asked, absently petting the cat now curled up on the bed between the two of them, highly interested in where this conversation was leading. Truth be told, Adelaide wished that someone other than her and Sirius knew about the Slytherin boy's crush on Marlene, if for no other reason than to convince him that they were practically soulmates— _snarky, sarcastic soulmates,_ perhaps—but soulmates nonetheless, in Adelaide's mind at least.

"Not if I can help it." he replied stiffly.

Madge paused for a moment, deep in thought. "You don't— you don't fancy her, do you?" she asked bluntly without a smidgen of awkwardness. Adelaide suddenly felt a wave of nausea wash over her that had absolutely nothing to do with her now pounding headache and concussed state. Just the thought of her little brother fancying her was too much for her to stomach.

"Wh-what—No!" Regulus sputtered out quickly to Adelaide's great relief. "No! Merlin, Madge! I told you I don't fancy her anymore!"

 _Anymore_?!

That last word caused Adelaide, or 'Floofs', to vomit the small amount of painkiller potion still in her stomach onto Regulus's bed, much to his horror.

" _EW_! _GROSS_! Madge, get that diseased cat out of my room!" Regulus yelped, nearly falling off his bed in his haste to distance himself from the gooey gross mess.

Madge ignored Regulus and instead began to soothingly pet the cat's back, which Adelaide found quite comforting. "Oh, you poor thing..." she said softly, waving her wand to clean up the vomit, and pulling 'Floofs' into her arms. "It'll be okay, I know just the person to help you..." she said quietly to the cat as she rose from the bed.

* * *

"Hey, Mary! Is Addy still up there? I wanted to say goodbye before she left." Sirius said anxiously as he jogged across the common room to the brunette huffily stomping down the girls' staircase... She seemed to be in a pretty sour mood for someone who was about to have 'the best effin' week of her life', as she so colorfully put it.

"No. And there's no need to say goodbye— she isn't coming." Mary huffed, roughly bumping his shoulder as she passed on route to the portrait hole.

Sirius stood still for a moment, trying to make sense of Mary's words, then turned on his heel and chased after her. "What do you mean she isn't coming?" he called, trying to keep up with the witch's brisk pace as she made off down a corridor that led to the grade staircase.

"I _mean_ she's a big fat liar and she isn't coming!" Mary said in anger, though Sirius could tell by the tears in her brown eyes that she was only masking a deep hurt.

"A liar? Mary, what are you talking about?"

Mary rounded to face him properly. "She didn't even ask her dad if she could go, Sirius!" she said in frustration. "And I guess he found out because apparently she can't go anymore!" she huffed, readjusting the big rucksack she was carrying and starting down the corridor again.

"Shit..." Sirius said mostly to himself, rooted in place from the weight of her words.

* * *

As Adelaide traversed the halls of Hogwarts in the arms of her Slytherin savior, a small part of her wondered who Madge was taking her to, however, most of her mind was preoccupied with the nausea-inducing fact that Regulus, her little Reggie, used to fancy her. His words re-playing in her mind over and over again like a broken record.

Logically, it should have been a slight relief that he didn't fancy her _anymore._ However, the fact that he fancied her _at all_ , at any point, was so shocking that she could scarcely think of anything else.

Her mind swam with unanswered questions. When did he start to fancy her? When did he stop? Did anyone else know? How was she ever going to face him again?

Adelaide was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't even notice where Madge was taking her until it was too late.

"Madam Pomfrey!" Madge called urgently, busting through the doors to the infirmary. Adelaide struggled to get free, but between the headache, nausea, and now some slight dizziness, it was a fruitless endeavor. "Madam Pomfrey! I need your help!" she said loudly, going into the room off to the side where Poppy was known to mix up different remedies and potions.

"Good heavens, Miss Farley!" Madam Pomfrey said in slight surprise. "Whatever is the matter, dear? You can't be out of those kelp lozenges already—"

Madge shook her head. "No, no, I've got plenty—although I'm pretty sure Charlie's almost out—anyway that's not why I'm here! This cat is sick."

Poppy frowned, giving the feline a suspicious look that Adelaide found a little odd... she also wondered why in the world anyone would need 'kelp lozenges'.

"This _cat_?" the matron asked, raising an eyebrow.

Madge sighed loudly in exasperation. "I promise she's really a cat! I don't know who her owner is, but she just threw up on my friend's bed! And just look at her— she's miserable!"

Adelaide was unsure of what else Poppy could have possibly thought she was besides a cat, except perhaps a human, but couldn't help but welcome any remedy as she was feeling quite miserable. Unfortunately, Madam Pomfrey still looked unconvinced.

"Ugh! Please, Madam Pomfrey! I promise she's literally just a cat—a _sick_ cat! You've got to help me! Everyone already thinks I killed Guppy—if something happens to her the whole school will think I'm some sort of cat murdering psychopath!" Madge said, sounding quite desperate. Adelaide made a mental note to ask later about this silly cat she used to own.

"Oh alright, put her up on the counter and I'll have a look at her." Poppy sighed in resignation.

Madge immediately plopped Adelaide onto the counter and Poppy quickly gave her a once over, then rushed off and began digging through a cupboard. "Alright, I have something that should settle her stomach... but I'm warning you, it will have the opposite effect if she's really another—"

"She's a cat. I swear to Merlin she's just a cat." Madge said quickly, cutting her off, piercing sea-blue eyes practically begging for the older woman to believe her.

Poppy finally handed her a small jar that Adelaide thought smelled like rice, and said, "Give her three teaspoons of this every six hours for the next two days."

"Perfect! Thank you!" Madge grinned.

"Oh! And give these to your brother next time you see him." Poppy added, handing a small drawstring bag of what Adelaide guessed were the weird lozenges they mentioned earlier.

"Will do! Thank you, Madam Pomfrey!" Madge chirped, grabbing Adelaide and rushing out the doors as quickly as she came.

* * *

"Prongs—Addy—is—missing!" Sirius panted breathlessly, running into the Gryffindor boys' dormitory holding the stitch at his side.

James, who was trying to map out a new prank to take place later that week for April fools day, stopped his plotting to look at the sweaty boy in front of him. "What do you mean she's _missing_?"

"I _mean_ — I can't— find her— and she's still— _concussed_!" he panted, before quickly explaining how Adelaide never told her dad about going to Mary's, how he most likely found out about the trip, how she subsequently got in a fight with Mary when she said she couldn't go, and how she was now _nowhere_ to be found, which he knew because he had just sprinted around the castle and checked every known hiding spot of hers.

"First of all, we're going to have to get you in better shape if you're going to make beater next year, Pads—" James commented, prompting a rather rude hand gesture from his best mate. "And second, I doubt she's really lost— She's probably just off brooding someplace more unique so you won't bug her—"

"No! She's missing! I just know it!" Sirius barked.

"Fine! Fine, well wherever she is, we'll find her on the map so just take some deep breaths and calm down—" James said as he began to rustle through the papers on his desk to find said map.

"I am very _calm_ , James!" Sirius said very un-calmly. "I just want to make sure my bloody girlfriend is okay!"

* * *

After Adelaide begrudgingly took the prescribed dosage of the rice smelling concoction, Madge picked her up and walked her all the way out of the castle, stating that they would go search for her owner in the great hall at lunch when more people were there. "For now, I think you could use a good nap." Madge said as they approached a grassy bank by the black lake. "I'd take you back down to my dorm, but then we run the risk of Delores finding you again..." she said with a shiver, placing Adelaide carefully on the grass. "Although, I wouldn't mind hexing her into a toad..." she mused causing Adelaide to purr loudly as she snuggled herself into a ball, using her fluffy tail as a makeshift pillow. "Though, to be honest, I think all my roommates would be better off as toads." she shrugged.

Adelaide had never heard Madge speak about her other roommates before, and always assumed that they were friends of hers, but from her tone she quickly realized this was not the case in the least.

"They're all just so awful... The only one I can even stand to be around is Cleo... but even she's so uppity about being pureblood—drives me bloody insane." Madge grumbled, tossing a pebble into the lake and watching it skip for much longer than Adelaide thought should have been possible. "I mean Addy's pureblood, but she doesn't go around shoving it in your face all the damn time— granted she _is_ a Gryffindor... but still..."

Adelaide's ears perked up at the mention of her name, pleasantly surprised that Madge spoke of her semi-kindly, even behind her back.

Madge must have noticed that her ramblings were keeping 'Floofs' awake, and kept quiet for a long while, occasionally skipping rocks every now and again. However, Adelaide was much too spoiled to be able to sleep properly on the grass, even if she was a cat, and longed to go curl up in her fluffy bed, not even caring if Mary was around at this point.

Standing up on all four legs, ready to trot back inside when Madge wasn't looking, Adelaide stretched out her stiff feline muscles then yawned loudly, catching Madge's attention as she wandered off near the ledge of the lake.

"You might not want to go that way," Madge warned lazily. "I saw a Plimpy hopping around down there… They're harmless of course, but they have been known to nibble at people's toes..."

Adelaide, curious as to what the bloody hell a Plimpy was, peaked over the ledge. Below her stood a small, round fish with long skinny legs ending in webbed feet, hopping around at the sloshing waters edge, pecking at some unsuspecting water snails for a late morning snack.

"The mermaids around here think they're all a bunch of pests," Madge continued. "Do all sorts of nasty things like tie their legs together— But personally, I've always thought they were kind of cute—I even had one as a pet when I was little— Named it Plump—Used to torment Jake with it all the time—Drove mum insane!" she laughed.

Indeed, Adelaide could see the appeal as the weird, round little creature bounced around, splashing water up every so often when it jumped. She was so entertained by the energetic, amphibious little fish, that she forgot why she initially got up.

"Well color me impressed, Farley! You've managed to nick that ugly frogs little fur ball. I didn't think you had it in you!" sniggered a pompous voice from behind her, followed by a chorus of low laughing voices.

Adelaide whipped around to face the weasel faced boy, with her ears flat, her teeth bared as she growled with eyes narrowed, thinking about how lovely it would be to claw the sneer right off of his stupid face. Meanwhile, Madge rose to her feet, driftwood wand clutched in her hand as she stood protectively in front of the cat.

"Why, Avery, I didn't expect to see you here— Finished hexing those first year Hufflepuffs already, have you?" Madge said scathingly.

Avery's lip curled. "I don't see how anything I do is your business, _Farley_."

Adelaide glanced over to a dark haired boy with sea-blue eyes standing amongst Avery's band of thugs, looking a little uncomfortable with him tormenting his big sister.

"It became my business when you indoctrinated my baby brother into your stupid gang!" Madge snapped.

A cold laugh escaped Avery's thin lips. "Charles is a big boy now, Margie. He can make his own decisions—"

Madge's anger was almost palpable and Adelaide was sure that she was about a second away from hexing his head into a tentacle like she did with Dollie, when a saccharine and shrill voice screamed, "FLUFFFYYY!" from the distance.

Adelaide backed away out of instinct, back paws nearly slipping off of the little ledge and into the shore of the lake.

"FOR THE LAST TIME YOU STUPID TOAD, HER NAME ISN'T FLUFFY!" shouted another voice, a low voice that Adelaide knew very well— it was the voice of a clearly annoyed James Fleamont Potter.

She scanned the area and felt her heart leap with joy when she spotted him and Sirius running her way, even if they were following after the 'stupid toad' for some strange reason.

The moment Adelaide made eye contact with Sirius, seeing the relief in his sweet grey eyes, everything and everyone around her faded away to the background. As if by instinct, or gravitational pull, she began bounding across the grass toward him as fast as her little paws would take her, desperate to be in his warm comforting embrace, safe from the trouble brewing amongst the feuding snakes.

"Ah ah! Not so fast, Little Beastie!" sang a cold voice.

Mid run, Adelaide suddenly felt the ground give way as something magically lifted her into the air. Confused and a little scared, she looked down to see the look of indignant anger on Sirius's face, then felt the magical force pull her further and further away from him, despite her now desperate struggles. She glanced down again and fear flowed through her veins like ice—Avery had levitated her right over the water, much to the amusement of his stupid friends who were laughing and cheering loudly.

"PUT HER DOWN, AVERY!" Madge screamed furiously above the cheers.

Adelaide was nearly paralyzed in fear, looking down at the sloshing body of water below, but caught sight of some flashes of light out of the corner of her eye and heard a mixture of spells cracking and people shouting. She glanced up just in time to see James, Sirius, and Madge's wands fly out of their hands from disarming spells cast by a few of Avery's henchmen lurking in the shadows.

"Oh, calm down—we're just having a bit of fun, Margie!" Avery laughed, moving his wand up and down making Adelaide's body flop around like a rag doll in the air. The world blurred and spun around making her dizzy, nauseous, and hopelessly disoriented, though she could still hear the water below her with almost painful clarity.

"YOU PUT HER DOWN NOW YOU WORTHLESS PEICE OF SHIT!" Sirius cried out. She heard his footsteps running, probably toward Avery so he could punch him in the face again, knowing Sirius— but his steps came to an abrupt halt and his shouts were replaced by a mixture of grunts. She tried to make out what was going on as she continued to flop and spin around in the air helplessly, and finally realized that Sirius was trying to push past the half-troll idiots that were guarding Avery.

"Well if you insist!" Avery said almost lazily. Adelaide fell toward the lake without warning, meowing loudly, shaking violently in fright.

"STOP! STOP! SHE CAN'T SWIM!" James screamed, just as her tail scraped the top of the dark waters. She looked up and saw him trying to get past some of the other Slytherins to help her.

Avery sneered. "Ah, well Margie here loves to swim—perhaps she can help her—"

"That's enough, Avery! Just let the stupid cat go!" said Charlie Farley, to everyone's great astonishment, looking nearly as upset as Madge.

While everyone was trying to make sense of Charlie's sudden shift in loyalty, Adelaide was freaking out. If she could cry as a cat, she would have been sobbing in that moment, dangling by only the magic of Avery's wand, mere centimeters from the depths of the black lake.

She had no problem at all with heights, and given her natural athleticism when it came to Quidditch, she might have been a very strong swimmer if her parents ever bothered to teach her how. But swimming was for the common people, not high-class children of influence and means such as herself. They thought her time was better spent learning how to waltz and speak latin— skills which were utterly useless in that moment.

Adelaide glanced up, squirming in terror, and watched in what felt like slow motion as Avery's face turned from anger to a dangerous smile.

For a moment, as he lifted her high above the cool dark waters, back toward land, she thought he would let her go with nothing but some traumatizing memories to remember the experience by. But as she saw his smile widen, she realized there was no way this was going to be the case.

With a flick of his wand, Adelaide felt as he catapulted her high in the air, sending her flying further toward the middle of the lake in a terrified howl of fright.

She could hear the muffled sound of screams someplace far away, then hit the water— _hard._

Everything was dark as she was plunged into the depths of the lake. She began flailing around desperately, unsure of which way was up in her panicked frenzy, much too frightened to even think about turning herself back into a human.

Her chest began to tighten from a lack of air, and she struggled to kick her limbs, desperate to keep moving toward some small promise of air—

All of a sudden, it felt as if something was pulling her by the silk ribbon around her throat, deeper toward the darkness of the lake. She struggled and clawed with every ounce of strength she had left, water beginning to fill her lungs as her body gasped for air that it would never find. She managed a good swipe at something that felt like a tentacle, which must have wounded the creature enough for them to become more violent, for in the next moment a pair of small hands with long slender fingers gripped around her throat, choking the last breaths out of her, until slowly the world around began to fade.

Strength gone, and with nothing but her sheer force of will to keep her alive at that moment, Adelaide wondered if this was how she would die.

As a cat.

She wondered if her parents would be proud that she'd managed to become an unregistered Animagi—she figured they probably would.

And next she wondered what would happen to her sweet Sirius. He'd drive himself half to madness— probably would kill Avery on the spot and then go down in history as the youngest person to ever receive a life sentence to Azkaban.

There was no way in hell she was going to let that happen.

With a strength she didn't know she possessed, Adelaide bit hard at the the creature which was now trying to drag her further and further down, and for a moment kept it at bay.

Then, just when her last efforts were proving to be futile, she felt the water shift, as if something bigger was swimming toward her at an inhuman speed, making a very inhuman, almost musical sound. In the next moment, the grip of whatever was dragging her was broken and what felt like human hands were carefully clutching her to their chest and swimming with her quickly towards what she could only hope was the surface… then her vision faded to black.

When she awoke, she was back on the grass still very feline, and coughing up water in volumes that didn't even seem possible. It wasn't until she sputtered out the last of the water in her lungs that she saw that Madge was soaking wet.

She didn't have long to dwell on this observation however, because suddenly she found herself being pulled into the strong arms that could only belong to Sirius. She snuggled up against his chest and felt as he held her, keeping her shiver racked body steady.

"You— you saved her…" Sirius said absently, as if he couldn't believe what had just happened. "That's— how the hell did you swim that fast?!" he asked, sounding almost angry now, but Adelaide knew this was just an outflow of his fear.

"I-I— I'm just a good swimmer…" Madge said awkwardly as if she was self-conscious—which was strange since she was probably the most confident person Adelaide had ever met apart from James. "Um… She should be okay— might want to make sure her necks alright though— I had to fight off some stupid Grindylow that was trying to eat her—"

A Grindylow, Adelaide thought to herself, she was nearly eaten by a damn Grindylow. For some reason she felt the great burning desire to write her father about this— probably to prove that had she gone with Mary, she would have been much safer.

"We should bring her back up to the castle— Lily will know what to do…" James said with a maturity beyond his years, standing up from the grass, and soon Adelaide felt as Sirius stood up as well.

"Hey um, Madge…" Sirius began quietly. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." she said equally as quietly. "Just do me a favor and don't let her run around the castle again."

Sirius chuckled. "I think I can manage that."


	95. Chapter 95

**Chapter 95– I'm Not an Effing Veela**

"Sirius, I'm perfectly capable of eating my lunch by myself..." Adelaide sighed, leaning back against the pillows of her bed just before a levitated spoon swooped gracefully toward her mouth so she could slurp tomato basil soup once more.

"Oh, I know." Sirius smirked from where he leisurely sprawled out across Mary's uninhabited bed.

Adelaide scowled then unceremoniously swatted the now empty spoon away like it was an annoying fly before it could droop back down into the soup bowl at her bedside. "Well then why the bloody hell have you insisted that this stupid thing feed me like I'm a big baby!"

"Well, you are _my_ baby..." Sirius winked, obviously trying to rile her up even more.

"Sirius!" she scolded, chunking Dorris at his face, followed soon after by Doug the purple dragon.

"Hey! Stop it! I was just wondering how long it would take for you to question it!" he laughed.

Adelaide pouted and crossed her arms over her chest, looking pointedly in the other direction, which happened to be in the direction of Marlene's empty bed. Of their friend group, only Lily, James, Sirius and herself were left at the school that easter holiday, which worked out for the best she supposed— It was much easier for Sirius to sneak into her dorm to hang out (and otherwise annoy her) without the others around, something he took full advantage of.

In the three days since she'd nearly been drowned and eaten by a damn Grindylow, he had hardly left her side—his reasoning mentioned something about needing to keep an eye on her after she'd used up five out her nine lives that semester, but Adelaide wasn't really listening as it was part of a much longer speech where he tried to convince Lily to let him stay up in their dorm over night, which she of course did _not_ agree to.

"Oh, come on Addy... I was just kidding around..." he said more tenderly to a still pouting Adelaide. The weight of the bed shifted and suddenly warmth radiated from her right side, followed soon after by his soft lips on her cheek. "I love you, Addy..." he murmured sweetly against her skin making her heart melt into a puddle.

"I love you too, you idiot." she grumbled weakly, face heating up a little and betraying her cold exterior. No matter how many times they said those words, it always felt like the first time to her.

Sirius seemed satisfied with her grumbly profession of love and made himself more comfortable at her side, laying down and resting his head on her shoulder. "So, I've been thinking—"

"Uh oh..." Adelaide interrupted with an audible smirk. "Never a good sign..."

Sirius tickled her side in retaliation making her giggle, then continued. "So, as I was _saying_... I think it would be a good idea for you to get some swimming lessons from Madge."

Adelaide thought for a moment, idly playing with a lock of Sirius's hair. "Don't you think she'd get suspicious? I mean— she's smart, Sirius... I feel like if I asked her out of the blue to teach me how to swim, it wouldn't take long for her to realize I was Floofs— erm, I mean the cat..." she ended a little awkwardly. While this _was_ a real reason for not wanting Madge to teach her, it wasn't the only one. Her memories of drowning were a little murky, but whatever saved her was definitely _not_ human... or at least, it wasn't _purely_ human and she wasn't sure she wanted to put her Slytherin friend on the spot like that.

Sirius sighed and began tracing little shapes on Adelaide's hip where the old and tattered quidditch practice jersey she'd stolen from James rode up from her baggy sweatpants, leaving a little splotch of porcelain skin. "Yeah, you're probably right... Maybe she could teach me and then I'll teach you?"

Adelaide's fingers momentarily paused their fiddling with his hair. The mental image of him in the water, alone with another girl, a rather _pretty_ girl, in nothing but her swim suit did _not_ sit well with her. "No." she said a little more aggressively than she intended, returning again to playing with another curly lock of his hair.

Sirius was much too relaxed to catch the sharpness to her tone. "Why not?"

"I-I just—" What was she supposed to say? _'I'm too jealous and insecure to let you go off swimming with my pretty, probably part-mermaid friend'?_ No, that would just make her sound like a crazy girlfriend... which even if it was true, was not the vibe she was really going for. "I-I just don't think it's a good idea is all..."

"Hmm... Well _I_ think it is..." he said a little stubbornly. "You didn't see her, Ads. She swam so fast, I swear she had to be part fish!" he chortled.

"I could swim fast if someone taught me..." she grumbled nastily.

"I know, silly—that's why I wanted her to teach... you..." he trailed off, sitting up so he could look at her properly. "Hang on... Addy, are you—are you _jealous_?" he asked looking far too amused for her liking.

"No." she said tersely, chewing on the side of her cheek.

"Oh, good merlin, you are!" he said in slight surprise.

"I just said I wasn't!" she snapped half-heartedly.

"Addy, you _know_ how much I love you... You have absolutely _nothing_ to be jealous about..." he chuckled softly, gently moving her hair out of her eyes and tucking it behind her ear, smiling as his grey eyes looked at her as if she was the only person on the planet.

"I-I know that..." she said quietly, stomach fluttering and thoughts getting a little jumbled, as they usually did when he looked at her like that. "It's just that you—well you talk about her all the time... and how good a swimmer she is..." she trailed off. It wasn't until she said these words out loud that she realized how utterly ridiculous it all sounded. What was he going to do, dump her because some girl he hardly knew could swim better than her? She half expected him to laugh at her for being so silly, but thankfully, he didn't.

Instead, he looked at her thoughtfully for a moment, then leaned forward to kiss her on the nose as his warm hand rested on the side of her face, stroking her cheek with his thumb. "Addy, she could be the best swimmer in the world, and I'd still pick you... I'll _always_ pick you." he said, eyes boring into her with a striking amount of intensity, as if he was willing her to believe him (which, of course, he was). "Besides, you're _way_ hotter..." he smirked.

Adelaide snorted a laugh and pushed him away as he chuckled loudly. "Probably because I'm part Veela..." she remarked sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

"No, it's because you're Addy." he said honestly, kissing her on the cheek, making her face flush even more. "Though, if I'm being honest, I really wouldn't be surprised if you _were_ part Veela..."

Adelaide groaned in exasperation. "I'm not an effing Veela, Sirius!"

"Look, all I'm saying is... you don't know that much about your dad's side of the family... and it wouldn't be unlike him to keep some big secret like that hidden away, especially if it made people suspect their precious 'pure blood' was tainted somehow..." he said casually, making himself comfortable once more as he rested his head near the crook of her neck, guiding her hand so she would play with his hair again like the needy puppy he was.

As Adelaide ran her fingers through his soft hair, she briefly wondered if maybe he had a point. It would be just like her father to keep something like that a secret... If he lied about her having a brother for most of her life, what was to keep him from lying about something like that? "I'm not a Veela." she said stubbornly, not totally sure if she was lying or not.

"Whatever you say, Addykins..." Sirius sighed lazily. "So, I was thinking—"

"Again with all this silly thinking business?" Adelaide giggled, tapping him on the head teasingly.

"Fawley, if you don't stop that—" he said in mock annoyance as a smile played at his lips just before he began tickling her sides once again.

"Ah! Stop! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" she laughed breathlessly. "Please tell me what you were thinking about!"

Sirius smiled smugly and pulled himself up, leaning on his elbow to face her, brushing away some hair that fell into her eyes. "Well, I was _thinking_ with the weather being so nice, that maybe you'd like to go for a walk with me." he said with soft eyes.

Adelaide quirked an eyebrow. "A walk?"

"Mhmm!" he nodded, looking very much like an excited puppy.

"You want me to take you out for a walk?" she clarified, desperately trying to keep from giggling.

Sirius tilted his head to the side, obviously a little confused. "Well I wouldn't have worded it quite like that... but yeah I suppose—Hey, what's so funny?"

Adelaide couldn't hold back her laughter anymore and dissolved into a childish fit of giggles.

"Ugh! Addy! What's so funny?!" Sirius complained.

"Sorry—it's just that—you really _are_ a dog!" she said through her laughs.

Sirius rolled his eyes as realization hit him and mischievous smile creeped up his lips. "Oh I'll show you dog..." he muttered, pinning her down beneath him before she even knew what was going on.

"What do you—Ack! No! Stop! That tickles" she laughed as he licked her face in a dramatic, dog-like fashion.

"Say you'll take me on a walk and I'll stop!" he laughed, licking her face once more.

It took a second for her to get the words out when she was laughing so hard, but eventually she managed it. "Fine! Fine, I'll take you on a walk! Now get off me, you weirdo!" she giggled, still thoroughly stuck beneath him.

Sirius tucked his hair behind his ears then used his sleeve to wipe his slobber off her face. "I dunno... I quite like the view from here." he smirked, leaning down to press a sweet short kiss to her lips just as the door to the dormitory creaked open.

"Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Sorry! _Ow_ —leaving!"

Sirius rolled off of Adelaide and they both sat up and watched in amusement as Lily, who was covering her eyes tightly with her hands, tried to blindly find her way out the door she just entered, running into the door frame repeatedly in the process.

"Lily! You look ridiculous! Open your eyes before you fall down the stairs!" Adelaide giggled.

"Yeah, we weren't really snogging, Evans!" Sirius laughed. "No need to be so traumatized!"

Lily stopped and carefully removed her hands from her eyes. "I-I knew that..." she said, trying her hardest to sound confident despite her blushing face. "I um...I'll see you later—"

"You don't have to go, Lils!" Adelaide said quickly.

"No, it's fine I was just heading back down anyway—"

"You walked all the way up to our room just to walk back down the second you got here?" Adelaide asked knowingly.

"Erm... Well no... But you two are busy... and I—"

"We were just about to leave, Evans." Sirius informed the flustered girl.

"Oh, thank goodness..." Lily sighed in relief. Sirius took slight offense to her seeming so happy about them leaving, which Lily must have picked up on as she added, "Sorry, James wouldn't stop bugging me downstairs— got me all out of sorts..."

"Oh _really_ now?" Sirius smirked.

Adelaide swiftly nudged him and nodded toward the door pointedly. "I think you need to go get ready for our walk, Pads." she said through her teeth before he had a chance to antagonize Lily about James— that was something she preferred to do alone.

"Right... Well I'll be sure to talk to James— see if I can keep him from getting you all 'out of sorts' again, Evans." Sirius sniggered as he walked out the door.

Lily groaned and flopped backwards on her bed as she heard the door close behind him. "Addy, why is he so annoying?" she asked woefully.

"I blame the inbreeding." Adelaide shrugged. Lily sat back up and gave her a sharp look. "Oh, you mean James..." she said quickly.

"Yes I mean James! Ugh! All he does is pester me with silly questions!" Lily grumbled, brows furrowed.

"Questions, huh? What kind of questions?" Adelaide asked curiously.

Lily ran a hand through her auburn hair, mind flashing back to the last torturous fifteen minutes. "Well he always has to ask about what book I'm reading and how my day's been, and then he usually starts badgering me with more specific questions: how I drink my tea—If I prefer chocolate or vanilla ice cream— who's my favorite Beatle— if I've ever been to Spain—And he just goes on and on! It's so freaking annoying, Ads! I swear he's driving me mental!"

"I think he just wants to get to know you better, Lils..." Adelaide giggled. "Sounds kind of sweet to me..."

Lily scowled, ignoring her comment. "And I don't understand why he has to be so flipping close to me all the time! Hasn't he ever heard of personal space?! I can't even _think_ when he's so close— always ruffling up his hair like he just hopped off his broom—Ugh! And those stupid eyelashes of his always mocking me..." she muttered bitterly.

"Wait, I'm sorry— _what_?" Adelaide laughed, thoroughly amused. "How are his eyelashes _mocking you_?"

"Haven't you noticed how long they are?!" Lily asked in exasperation. "Even with mascara my lashes aren't as pretty as his!"

"Hold on... let me get this straight... You're upset with James because he has prettier eyelashes than you?" Adelaide asked incredulously.

Lily opened and closed her mouth a few times, trying to find the right words to say. "Well it sounds silly when you put it like that..."

"Yes. Yes it does." Adelaide agreed as she laughed. She was quite certain that Lily wouldn't find him half as annoying if she wasn't in denial of fancying him. "Say, isn't that his blanket you're laying on?" she added slyly.

Lily quickly glanced down to the wool blanket that she yet to return to her messy haired nemesis, then blushed bright red. "Ugh! Don't you have to take your dog for a walk or something?" she huffed.

Adelaide smirked, completely convinced that somewhere deep down, Lily really did have a thing for James Potter, even with his 'mocking eyelashes'. "Why yes... yes I do..."

* * *

After a long and ambling walk around the castle grounds in the warm springtime sunshine, where Sirius and Adelaide discussed important and sophisticated matters such as where in the world Dorris came from and what would happen were they to put a werewolf on one of Jupiter's moons, the two best friends' growling stomachs led them into the Great Hall for dinner.

"I still think it's only our moon that messes with them, Pads..." Adelaide said as she took her usual seat at a fairly empty Gryffindor table, taking care to avoid eye contact with Regulus who sat within her line of vision beside Madge and Severus at the Slytherin table.

"But what's the difference between one piece of space rock and another? Is there something inherently magical about _our_ little moon that makes some people sprout fur and whiskers once a month? Seems super random..."

"I dunno, maybe some crazy, space traveling warlock accidentally cursed it or had an experiment gone wrong?" Adelaide shrugged, putting some roast chicken, mashed potatoes, and broccoli on her plate.

"There are space traveling warlocks?" Sirius asked seriously, spoon stopping midway from the bowl of Mac and cheese to his plate.

"Well there has to be! Think about it... if we can fly on broomsticks and time travel using necklaces I'm sure someone's managed to make it to the moon!" she mumbled through a mouthful of her dinner roll whilst Sirius ate some broccoli off of her plate. "Even muggles have made it to the moon, Pads!"

"Theoretically, do you think someone could apperate to the moon?"

"Hmmm... Not sure if it works that way..." she mumbled with her mouth full once more.

"Maybe Minnie would know... We should—Oh, hey Reg!" Sirius said, glancing behind him to a figure that simultaneously cast a shadow over Adelaide's mashed potatoes and made her want to hide under a big rock until further notice.

"Hey..." Regulus said awkwardly from behind her. "Erm... Ads, can I talk to you?"

Adelaide kept her eyes firmly fixed on her plate and even stalled by chewing and swallowing the rest of the food in her mouth before replying. "Isn't that what you're already doing?" she finally said quietly, feeling a familiar queasy feeling just at the memory of the last time they were together.

Sirius looked back at her in concern, probably confused by both her sass and the sudden green tinge that was surely gracing her features at this point.

While she told him and James about the conversation with her dad, including the part about freaking France (which she was seriously considering keeping to herself in case they went overboard trying to be protective), as well as majority of her little feline adventure, including how to get into the Slytherin Common room (James found this part particularly interesting), she failed to mention anything in regards to her growing suspicions about Madge's less than human ancestry nor the fact that apparently Regulus used to fancy her.

"I suppose I am..." Regulus said quietly, taking an uninvited seat beside her, flashing a quick look to his brother. "Um... well I just wanted to say I was sorry for snapping at you a while back... I know you were just trying to help with erm... you know... and I'll try to not be such a prat in the future..."

Sirius snorted a laugh. "Good luck with that last bit." he teased.

Regulus rolled his eyes and waited for Adelaide to respond.

Adelaide still refused to make eye contact, pushing her uneaten broccoli around with her fork. "Erm... You're-you're forgiven." she said almost nervously, internally cursing her self for being such an awkward mess. She was supposed to be a brave and mighty Gryffindor, dammit! Yet, here she was acting like a total coward just because some boy— a boy who happened to be one of her best friends— _used_ to fancy her—past tense!

"Oh... Um... well good." he said awkwardly as well, clumsily getting up from the table. "I uh... well I guess I'll see you at breakfast tomorrow, yeah?" he asked hopefully.

"Mmm not tomorrow— busy... Got to catch up on some assignments." she shrugged.

"Oh, okay..." Regulus definitely sounded disappointed at this point. "Oh, Sirius! Before I forget— Madge wanted me to ask how floofs— erm— how James's cat is doing."

"She's not _James's_ cat!" Sirius began incredulously just before Adelaide kicked him from under the table and looked up at him pointedly. "Uh... I mean he was just cat sitting... for erm... someone..." he chuckled, running a hand through his hair. "Anyway, she's fine. Lily healed up her neck in no time!"

"Oh good! Madge has been worried sick— Kept barging into our dorm bugging me to make sure she was okay." Regulus chuckled as well.

"Yep, well she's good as new!" Sirius said. "Fit as a fiddle— erm..."

"...I'll let you finish your dinner— see you around, Ads." Regulus said as he walked away, sensing that he had clearly overstayed his welcome.

Once Regulus was firmly out of earshot, Sirius leaned over and nudged Adelaide's foot from underneath the table. "What the hell was that all about? You can't still be mad at him for snapping about Marlene?"

"I'm not." she said quietly.

"Then what's up with you being so weird?"

"It's-it's nothing really—"

"It's not _nothing_ , you big fat liar!"

"Did you just call me fat?" Adelaide asked, trying very hard to change the subject.

Sirius rolled his eyes then sighed in exasperation. "Addy, just tell me— you know I'll get it out of you eventually."

Adelaide pursed her lips and looked at him for a long few moments. She knew he had a point, but she was internally debating how upset he would be if she told him the truth, wishing that they were somewhere less public in case he decided to hex his little brother in a mad jealous rage—

"Addykins..." he said, pulling her from her thoughts by reaching for her hand across the table, giving her the most heartbreaking puppy dog eyes imaginable. "We tell each other everything, love..."

Of _course_ he would use that card, she thought to herself.

"Fine! Fine, I'll tell you! Just please stop looking at me like that!" she said in frustration, squishing her eyes closed.

Sirius laughed. "Deal!"

Adelaide peaked her eyes open once more, then pursed her lips. "And you have to promise you won't get mad and do something rash."

"When have I, Sirius Orion Black the Third, ever done something _rash_ , Miss Fawley?" he asked much too innocently, batting his eyelashes at her.

"You hexed a second year once because he looked like he was going to steal your sandwich." she deadpanned. "It wasn't even your sandwich..."

Sirius waved her off dismissively. "Let's not dwell in the past, love— Now tell me before I die of unresolved curiosity."

Adelaide nodded then took a steadying breath. "Okay... well, when I was erm... Cat-Addy, Madge brought be into Regulus's dorm—"

"Oh merlin! Please don't tell me you saw him naked or something!" Sirius said in horror.

"Ew! No!" she exclaimed loudly. "Gross! Get your head out of the gutter!"

Sirius sighed in relief. "Sorry... go on."

"As I was saying, she brought me in there and they started erm talking... and I may have been mentioned in the conversation... and one thing led to another and... well..." she paused, looking around to makes sure no one was there to overhear them, then leaned forward and said her next words very quickly. "Apparently Reggie used to fancy me— there I said it!"

Sirius blinked a few times with a blank expression on his handsome face as Adelaide waited with bated breath at what his next course of action would be, subtly feeling for her wand in her pocket just in case he started to spontaneously attack his little brother.

She was prepared for anything... or so she thought.

"That's it?" he asked tilting his head to the side.

Adelaide blinked a few times with her brows pulled together in confusion. "Well, yeah?"

Sirius took a big bite of his own chicken and hummed as if she'd just told him some mildly amusing fact about the weather.

"You— you aren't upset?" she asked incredulously.

Sirius shrugged, finishing off his bite of food before answering. "Should I be? I mean, it's not like he fancies you anymore and you definitely don't fancy him."

"But still! It doesn't bother you at all that your own brother had a thing for me?!"

Sirius thought this over for a minute as he took a gulp of pumpkin juice. "Well I guess it does a little... but it's not like he ever really stood a chance— I mean look at me, I'm gorgeous..." he smirked, flipping his hair theatrically and raising his chin to show off his impressive jawline.

Adelaide rolled her eyes and had to let out a laugh at how silly he was, grateful he didn't end up hexing Regulus into oblivion. "And so humble..." she said under her breath, shaking her head.

* * *

The rest of the holiday week, Adelaide and Sirius were nearly inseparable during the day, sharing sweet lighthearted moments of silliness and laughter that somehow managed to keep Adelaide distracted from the looming date of Mary's arrival back at Hogwarts. However, at night, when it was just Adelaide trying to drift off to sleep, facing Mary's empty bed in the darkness, her thoughts and dreams had a mind of their own.

She tossed and turned, never getting more than a few hours of sleep at a time, dreams filled with scenes of Mary furiously calling her a fat, lying, space traveling, mermaid hating, moon witch; of her getting shipped off to France and getting chased by some weird white wolf while Mary wailed in the distance; of Riddle's high pitched laugh ringing in her ears while Mary demanded answers to questions that Adelaide couldn't give, especially not when she was being attacked by what looked like a gigantic, flying version of James's disembodied eyelashes—They were truly awful. But thankfully, Adelaide could tell that these were all just bad dreams, and while she found it disturbing that her subconscious chose to torture her so frequently, she found a small amount of solace knowing that they were not necessarily predictions of the future.

Adelaide was determined to try to make things right with Mary when she returned—to apologize, grovel at her feet if she had to, if it only meant that she could be friends with her once again (and also put an end to her tortuous dreams). But when the day finally came, and she saw Mary looking tanner than before, fresh from the train ride back and eating her dinner down the table beside Marlene and Lily, Adelaide just couldn't do it.

Taking her seat by the boys, in between Remus and James, Adelaide slumped down and began absentmindedly pushing her peas around with her fork, ordering them in to a frowning face.

"I thought you were going to talk to her?" James said softly, bumping his shoulder against hers to try to pry her attention from her peas.

Adelaide shrugged. "I am... now's just not a good time..." she mumbled back.

Well as it happened, it was _never_ a good time.

Adelaide convinced herself that she was just waiting for the right moment to talk to her brunette best friend, saying that it would be even more awkward if she tried to rush such an important conversation between classes, or when Mary was working on her homework, and that it would be rude to ruin someone's dinner or mess up Mary's bedtime routine with unwanted professions of guilt. But deep down, Adelaide knew that she was just avoiding her, afraid that if she did finally talk to her and Mary didn't accept her apologies, that any hope they had at still being best friends would be over forever.

Before she knew it, nearly two weeks passed since Mary's return and she still hadn't said a single thing to her besides 'excuse me' when she accidentally bumped past her trying to get to her seat during Defense against the Dark Arts.

On April 15th, she knew she had hit an all-time low when she found herself willingly entering the very place she had sworn to loath for eternity: The library.

It was stuffy, dusty, and reeked of nerd and desperation, but with any luck she knew she could find a nice quiet corner to hide away in and distract herself. Strolling down a particularly secluded aisle of bookcases containing information on various magical beings on her way toward a hidden desk near a window, her eye caught hold of a rather curious title: "Vessela the Veela: An Autobiography."

Her small hand lifted to take the book from it's shelf, but hesitated as it made contact with the book's old and slightly tattered binding, that oddly seemed to glow white-gold beneath the thick layer of dust that had accumulated upon it.

It wasn't as if simply reading a book on Veelas mean she believed any of those silly rumors, she thought to herself, and perhaps doing a little research would help her to prove people wrong the next time they went on about her alleged, 'Veela charms'. And so, for purely research related purposes, her hand continued to pull the book from the shelf, making the book beside it on sirens flop over slightly, and her feet led her to sit down at the little secluded wooden desk.

The light from the stain glass window poured out upon the pages giving them a moon-bright luminescence to them as she flipped through to the first chapter and began to read.

 ** _To many of my kind, the task of describing one's exquisite existence in a world of mediocrity seems as futile as relaying the radiant colors of the dying sun to the blind, or the haunting tones of a mourning melody to the deaf. But, I, Vessela Vassileva, shall take up this mantle in hopes that a feeble minded human of extraordinary imagination might grasp but a small wisp of what it is to be me._**

Adelaide scrunched up her nose in disgust. This Vessela woman sounded more conceited than James. But, again for the purposes of research, she powered through, skimming over the more personal bits about the perils of being so beautiful and bewitching, to a list of the Veela's defining attributes which included: incredible beauty; white-gold hair that fans out behind them despite the absence of wind, hair that though temperamental, can be used as a wand core; the ability to woo most men with their seductive dance; and most interestingly, to Adelaide at least, that they possess their own type of magic _that_ _does not require a wand_.

Adelaide's heart raced and she found herself pouring over the book with a heightened sense of intensity, trying to make sure she didn't misread a single word.

Apparently, Veelas were known almost as much for their irascible natures as they were for their charm. When angry, she found that they transformed, faces turning into bird-like heads with cruel beaks, with long scaly wings that burst from their shoulders and the ability to launch balls of fire from their hands.

A shutter ran through Adelaide as she remembered back to all the times she'd set things on fire using wandless magic... perhaps it wasn't a coincidence after all.

For hours, Adelaide sat hunched over the little desk with a quill clutched in her left hand as she combed through Vessela's autobiographical accounts, scribbling down notes and trying to find something, _anything_ that mentioned what traits someone who was only _part_ Veela might inherit, until finally her eye lids grew too heavy and sleep overtook her.

 _Hunched over the small table in her nursery with a black crayon clutched in her right hand, Adelaide tried her hardest to draw a unicorn. She knew that Miss Lestrange said she had to hold the crayon in her right hand... but it just felt so wrong..._

 _The crayon made contact with the parchment, but instead of making a circle like she intended the line went jutting out in an unflattering angle making a sort of wonky triangle-like shape._

 _Adelaide huffed in frustration wadding up the parchment into a ball and throwing it at a dollhouse on the other side of the room, knocking a miniature rocking chair out of her dolls miniature sitting room. She bit her lower lip as she folded another piece of parchment over, then picked up the crayon with her left hand this time, not even caring what that stuffy ol' tutor said, and proceeded to draw a beautiful stick figure unicorn worthy of being in a museum._

 _She decided to color the background yellow as it was Alex's favorite color, then opened up the makeshift card and drew a rainbow on one side and on the other wrote the words:_

 ** _"HAppi 11tH BiRfdAee ALex_**

 ** _LovE, LAidY bUg"_**

 _After adding a bit of glitter to polish things off, she grinned and tore out of the nursery to find her father._

 _Flying down the stairs as fast as her short legs would take her, she spotted her father talking to an old man in the grand marble atrium near the front door. The stranger was quite old, much older than her father and had a crooked nose, a long white beard, twinkling blue eyes that matched his blue and purple robes, and appeared to be holding a yellowish envelope. Cautiously, she stepped toward them with the newly finished card still in her little hands and heard her father sounding quite cross... But this wasn't anything out of the ordinary as he was always cross, she noticed, ever since Alex got hurt._

 _"Professor, there is really no need—"_

 _"Filip, I only wish to tell you that my offer still stands." said the old wizard kindly, peering up behind his half-moon spectacles to make brief eye contact with Adelaide._

 _"And while I truly appreciate your offer, as I said in my letter, my wife and I have already made our decision—" her father's words trailed off as he followed the old man's gaze to Adelaide. "Sweetie, Daddy's busy right now. Go back up to the nursery." he said sternly._

 _"But Daddy I—"_

 _"Adelaide, I won't ask again." he said harshly, making her lip quiver slightly in fright before she ran away without another word._

 _She didn't run directly to the nursery as he ordered, but instead took a quick detour to a bright sitting room on the east side of the manor with large framed windows and bright white furniture. It was always Alex's favorite room and a tiny part of her hoped that he might be there, hiding behind a sofa as he used to do when they played hide and seek, or perhaps sitting in the big armchair reading her favorite book about a secret garden out loud to her._

 _However, as she walked in she found not Alexander, but her mother sitting on the sofa, face hidden as she looked out the big windows._

 _"Mummy!" Adelaide squealed with joy, running over to the woman without even a thought. "Mummy! Look! I made Alex a card for his birthday!" she said happily, climbing up to sit beside her and shoving the card into her mother's hands, little specs of glitter falling onto her dark robes._

 _Her mother looked at the card for a moment without saying anything and even opened it up to read what was inside. Adelaide heard her mother breathe heavily and looked up to her pretty face. "Mummy... Don't cry, Mummy..." she said, watching the woman's silent tears fall down her cheeks and onto the parchment, trying to scoot closer so she wrap her arms around give her a hug her to try to make her feel better._

 _However, as soon as she touched the woman, her mother pushed her off and shoved the card back into her little hands. "Go back to the Nursery, Adelaide." she said coldly. "And work on writing those letters correctly."_

 _"But— but mummy, I made him a card..." she said, voice shaking as she tried not to cry at her mother's unfamiliar hostility. "It's his birthday— I just wanted to see if we could g-give it to him—"_

 _"GO BACK TO THE NURSERY!"_

 _Adelaide flinched and scrambled to get away, nearly tripping over her feet in her haste and took a short cut that ran right past the small sitting room on the first floor. There is where she stopped for a moment to catch her breath, leaning against a big armchair near a roaring fire._

 _She always liked that room, well she used to, before Alex went away. It was the room where her father used to read to her as she drank her tea before bed... but he never read to her anymore, he hardly spoke to her most days._

 _She was just about to go back up to the nursery and see about tidying up her dollhouse when she spied a large and very pretty book laying open on the coffee table. Carefully, she stepped toward it and gazed upon the picture of a big tree with lots of little faces sprouting from the branches, one of which being her own with Alex right beside, smiling just like how she remembered him._

Adelaide woke up with a start and rubbed her eyes as the bright light of a wand shone harshly in her direction.

"What're you doing here, Ads?" asked a hushed voice she recognized as Remus. "I thought you hated the library?" he said as he began to pack up her stuff for her.

"Remmy?" she said in bleary eyed confusion. "The library...? Oh shit! What time is it?" she asked in a rush, looking down at her watch.

"Time for you to go to bed," he laughed. "You're lucky I saw you here on the map, you almost got locked in overnight!"

"I-I fell asleep..." she said face heating up as he looked at the book she had been previously been drooling on.

"Why were you reading about Veelas?" he asked knowingly.

Adelaide fiddled with the hem of her jumper sleeve and shrugged.

"Addy, you're not really entertaining all those silly rumors, are you?" he asked in concern.

"I just— I was just doing research, Rem..." she said quietly.

"Right... Well let's get back before Pince finds out you've been in here drooling on her books." he said with a slight smirk.

Adelaide nodded with a small smile and walked with him all the way back to the common room, feeling a little sad as she thought back to the odd memory he interrupted, when suddenly it hit her.

The family tree book...

If she could find the book, she could finally prove once and for all that she wasn't a damn Veela.


	96. Chapter 96

**Chapter 96– Engaging in Espionage**

The morning after her impromptu Veela research session, Adelaide sat with her boys at breakfast, spoon idly poking at her oatmeal and scraping against the bottom of the bowl, only vaguely listening to James as he went on and on about some prank idea he had that involved palm trees that grew books instead of bananas. Her long platinum blonde tresses fell down in loose natural curls, obscuring her face which was unusually devoid of make-up. She rationalized that her barefaced look was a product of her morning fatigue, but deep down she knew it had less to do with her being lazy and more to do with Vessela Vassileva's accounts on the perils of beauty.

She was so annoyed and frustrated with that stupid book, with the fact that it affected her so deeply, with all the stupid rumors that led her to read it; but mostly she was frustrated that part of her could see how she might resemble one of those terrifying creatures. But she wasn't a Veela. She just _couldn't_ be. Her coincidental similarities were just that— _coincidence_. Why hadn't she just picked up the book on Mediterranean sirens instead?

With a sigh she tried her hardest to listen as Peter praised James for his superb pranking ideas, banishing those worrisome Veela thoughts from her mind. The only consolation she had was to tell herself that once she found the family tree book that summer, the truth would be revealed and everything would be sorted.

Well, _almost_ everything.

A warm laugh rose up above the din of morning chatter.

Mary's laugh.

Adelaide's heart twinged and her already melancholy mood intensified. She knew she just needed to Gryffindor up and talk to Mary and sort things out between them. It was a simple task. All she had to do was walk up and tell her from the depths of her heart how very sorry she was for lying and that she'd never do it again. But was that even a promise she could make?

What would she do if Mary asked her to explain her behavior? Would she lie again? The alternative would be to explain her ties with Riddle. The very thought filled her with dread. She'd have to tell her best friend how that awful man was manipulating nearly every aspect of her life. Would Mary even want to still be friends with her, knowing that by doing so she was essentially putting her and her family in danger? _Should_ she? Adelaide selfishly hoped that she would, but a cold nagging voice in the back of her mind, a voice that only grew louder and more aggressive with every overheard chuckle, said that perhaps Mary's life was better without her in it.

The fear of Mary's reaction—fear of Mary's possible rejection smothered every ounce of bravery she possessed, robbing her of the urgent conviction she needed to truly end their fight. Adelaide had endured torture, emotional neglect, insurmountable grief, and could probably cope were it revealed that she was descended from a long line of secret Veelas, but Mary hating her forever? _That_ would be unbearable.

These worrisome thoughts were temporarily diverted when, with an unexpected, and rather ungraceful _flump,_ an old tawny delivery-owl carrying the morning edition of the Daily Prophet landed on the table between Adelaide and Remus, toppling a bowl of fruit in the process. As apples and oranges rolled down the table toward a couple of second years seated beside them, and the owl began to peck at the bacon on Sirius's plate (much to his dismay), Adelaide dug through her bookbag for five bronze Knuts. Carefully, she placed them in the small drawstring pouch attached to the grumpy owl's leg, thereby sending him flapping away towards the rafters, a large strip of stolen bacon flopping from his beak.

"That's the third time in a week one of those bloody delivery-birds have eaten my bacon!" Sirius complained obnoxiously. "It's like they don't have any standards!"

A sly smile tugged at Adelaide's lips as she unfurled the paper. Sirius could be such a drama queen.

"Here, you can have some of mine if you're still hungry, Padfoot—" Peter offered in earnest.

Sirius shooed away Peters hand as the boy attempted to replace the pilfered bacon with his own. "No, Wormy! It's the principle of the matter!"

"Perhaps you should write the Prophet a strongly worded letter, Pads." Remus suggested wearing a sly smile similar to Adelaide's, much to the amusement of James. "Let them know the error of their ways..."

Sirius held himself in an overtly dignified manner. "Perhaps I will..."

"'Dear Daily Prophet, please send more polite owls to deliver my girlfriend's news papers!'" James laughed, eliciting a chuckle from Remus and Peter as well.

Sirius waved his index finger wildly in their faces to display his full disapproval. "Oi! You lot won't be laughing when it's _your_ breakfast they're snatching—!"

"Shush!" Adelaide whacked him on the arm, eyes still fixed on the paper.

"No, I will not _shush, Adelaide_!" Sirius said indignantly. "You don't pay those wretched birds to eat my food—"

"Would you just be quiet for a second! I'm trying to read this—"

"But Addy, my _bacon_ —!"

"Shush! The Minister's been booted out of office!"

"What?!" James and Sirius exclaimed at the same time Remus asked, "Muggle or Magic?"

"Magic." she replied, nose scrunched up in concentration as her eyes continued to dart over the article.

"Why?" Peter asked nervously. "Did-did something happen? What's it say?!"

Adelaide cleared her throat and began to recite the article in question. " _Minister for Magic, Eugenia Jenkins, was forcibly evicted from office by popular vote of the Wizengamot, the evening of Tuesday, April 15th. During the subsequent press-conference, spokeswoman for the Wizengamot, Griselda Marchbanks, stated, 'Despite her early successes in the handling of the Pure-blood riots during the Squib rights marches of the late sixties, [Jenkins's administration] has been found woefully inadequate to the challenges facing the magical community and the rise of the dark wizard Lord Voldemort_ —'" Adelaide paused to scoff at the theatrics of Riddle's stupid made up name, while Peter and a few nearby second years listening in shuttered. She had to give credit where credit was due, however. 'The Dark Wizard _Tom_ ' didn't instill quite the same level of reverential fear.

" _With the growing number of unexplained disappearances, and attacks on muggles and muggle-borns at an all time high,"_ she continued. " _many hope that her successor, hardliner and longtime member of the Auror department, Harold Minchum, will prove more effective in containing Voldemort's steady rise to power..._ ' Oh! I've met him!" she exclaimed, pulling the paper down. "Not the most charming of fellows..." she trailed off, thinking back to the round man with his large blonde mustache that often barged into her fathers office with bad news and seemed incapable of smiling.

"You-Know-Who or the Minister?" asked one of the second year boys listening in.

Slowly, Adelaide blinked and turned to stare at the young and too-thin boy with mousy brown hair at her side. "Excuse me?" she squeaked. Surely she must have misunderstood him...

"You said you met him—I was wondering if you meant the new minister or You-Know-Who." the boy clarified hesitantly, looking to Sirius's now tense figure at her side as if he were afraid he would strike him.

"Obviously the minister, you tosspot!" interrupted another voice from behind her, a rather _familiar_ voice... but it couldn't be? Adelaide had to turn around to be sure, but sure enough, there Mary stood behind her, dark brown hair pulled back into a pony tail, and big brown eyes casting a reprimanding scowl at the impertinent little boy at Adelaide's side.

"So says _you_! Everyone knows her whole family is evil! I wouldn't be surprised if they invited You-Know-Who over for tea!" snapped his even more impertinent friend: a rather burly, ruddy-faced, red-headed boy with the surname Evermonde. Adelaide only vaguely knew who he was because he tried out as a beater earlier that school year. James made Wood kick him out of trials when he nearly took her head off with a poorly aimed bludger... but now, seeing the unbridled disdain flowing through his accusations, she wondered if it really was poorly aimed, or if he'd had it in for her from the start.

Sirius's face hardened even more and Adelaide swore she heard a growl rise from his throat as he immediately began to reach for his wand. She gently rested a hand on his forearm to steady him and hopefully keep him from hexing anyone before first period.

Mary's scowl intensified. "Of all the stupid—Her dad's the head of the bloody Department for Magical Law Enforcement, you blithering dingbat! Do you _really_ think she's out hobnobbing with Ol' Voldy when her father's the one putting his followers in effing Azkaban?! I mean _honestly_!" she rolled her eyes in exaggeration.

"Well I still don't see her denying it!" the boy fired back, brown eyes narrowed and darting between Mary and Adelaide.

Adelaide gulped. She really didn't want to lie... but if it came down to it, he really didn't give any other choice than to deny ever knowing Riddle. However, before she could squeak out a response, Mary stalked closer to the boy and spoke in a low and dangerous voice Adelaide had never witness her use.

"Listen here you little twerp, ask _anyone_ who really knows Addy and they'll tell you that she'd rather eat rancid slug larva before she'd _ever_ support the dark arts. Now, get out of this damn hall and out of my sight before I hex you and your stupid nosey friend here into chickens and tell McGonagall all about the illegal Ever-bashing boomerangs you've been peddling!"

The ginger boy's eyes widened. "How did you know about—You-you wouldn't—" he stammered.

"Oh wouldn't I?" she laughed humorlessly. "Is that a chance you're really willing to take, Evermonde?"

Apparently it wasn't, for within seconds, he and his companion were sprinting out the doors of the great hall as fast as their little legs would take them.

James stood up and began to solemnly clap. "Bravo, McDonald. Truly, _truly_ terrifying." he said with the utmost pride and admiration. At his side, Peter looked slightly shaken, but not unhappy.

Adelaide, who was still watching the doors to the great hall, thoroughly bewildered by the strange turn of events, looked back at Mary in disbelief. Logically, she knew she should be thanking her, perhaps even giving her a medal after that valiant display of loyalty... but the horrible irony of her words sent a fresh wave of guilt crashing over her. She _had_ been hobnobbing with Ol' Voldy, albeit unwillingly, and Mary's utter ignorance of this fact only furthered Adelaide's already crippling anxiety.

"Little second year snots better watch their backs..." Sirius growled, lip curled and clearly still pissed off on Adelaide's behalf.

"How'd you know about the boomerangs?" Remus asked, genuinely curious.

Mary shrugged. "Being friends with Slytherins has its advantages..."

There was a brief pause and Adelaide could feel the eyes on her, all waiting with bated breath for her to finally speak to Mary after their two week long estrangement, but _still_ words failed her.

It was at this moment, frozen in fear and mutely struggling within herself, that Adelaide noticed the Potions book in Mary's hands.

Mary followed her gaze and placed the textbook on the table, Adelaide's barely legible notes poking out between the pages. "You left this upstairs... thought you'd need it with the exam today..." Mary said in a matter-of-fact, but not unkind tone.

Adelaide stared at the book in a daze for a long while, trying to wrap her mind around what had just happened. Mary had defended her—she brought her book, despite being well within her rights to watch Adelaide fail her exam without it. Wasn't she still upset with her? None of this made any sense. "Th-thank you..." she said softly, finally glancing up, but by then Mary was gone—already back to sitting with the other girls down the table.

"Addykins, I hate to say it... but I told y—"

" _Don't_ say it! Don't you dare say it—!"

"I told you so!" Sirius said quickly, dodging her wrathful thwacks with a laugh. Adelaide could be so dramatic. "Listen, if she really hated you like you keep insisting she does, there is no way in hell she would have defended you like that." he said in a quieter, more subdued voice with a smile still playing at his lips. He had a feeling this was the first step towards the two girls reconciling their differences and could hardly contain his glee.

"Doesn't mean she still wants to be my friend..." Adelaide muttered.

"Of course she still wants to be your friend..." Sirius said, tucking a lock of hair behind her left ear. "You had a fight—one stupid fight... I'm sure once you talk it out—"

"I can't!" she said passionately, words falling from her mouth more out of reflex than out of conscious thought.

"Yes, you can!" he said firmly. Despite her outward ferocity, the fear in her eyes was undeniable. Sirius wondered how the girl who could wandlessly fight off werewolves, survive being tortured under the cruciatus curse by her own mother, and nearly being drowned by a damn Grindylow could possibly find a conversation with Mary, of all people, so impossible. Mary had a quick and fierce temper, that was for sure, but she loved just as fiercely. He was sure that if anyone could forgive Adelaide it would be Mary. Unfortunately, it's seemed Adelaide didn't share these same sentiments.

"NO!" Adelaide said loudly standing from her seat upon the bench and walking out of the hall.

"And you call _me_ dramatic..." Sirius sighed under his breath as he stood up as well to follow after her. "Addy! Addy, wait!"

* * *

Mary watched Sirius tear out of the great hall after Adelaide, feeling entirely at fault for the girl's emotional outburst. She was just trying to be nice with the whole book thing and never meant to verbally assault some second years... but she just couldn't help herself. She couldn't stand to hear people lie, _especially_ not about her best friend, fight or no fight. Sitting at the table, hardly listening to Marlene and Lily's conversation, she tried to convince herself that perhaps Adelaide's being upset had nothing to do with her... but after what felt like ages (but in reality was only thirty seconds or so) she could take it no more and felt it her duty to make sure Adelaide was alright.

Excusing herself to use the loo, Mary slipped out of the great hall and looked up and down the corridors and nearby empty classrooms Adelaide usually ran off to, but they were all empty. Knowing Sirius, there was always the off chance that he'd whisked away to honeydukes via their secret passages in order to cheer her up. But they had a big potions exam second period— if they ran off to Hogsmeade they'd never make it back in time... no they had to be around somewhere...

Continuing her search, Mary wandered into a cloister of the nearby courtyard. The air was chill and filled with the song of a nearby mourning dove, rays of sun peaking over the misty mountainside shone through the open windows that looked out to the Back Lake. She paused her search just briefly, watching the sloshing waters below, having sworn she saw something, _someone_ splashing off in the distance—that's when she heard them.

"Sirius! I can't! Please—I-I just can't!" said a desperate, melodic voice in the direction of the doors from which Mary had just entered.

"Addy! Mary's your best friend— Your sister! You two have had fights before— Please, I promise if you just talk to her—"

The voices grew louder as their footsteps neared and Mary did the only logical thing she could think of at the moment— she slipped into the courtyard behind them and hid behind a large flowering bush.

"I _can't_ talk to her, Sirius!" Adelaide cried out in anguish as she flung herself down upon a nearby bench below a blooming pear tree, soon followed by Sirius. "This isn't like the other fights! I've been lying to her for so long! You-you heard her in there! What's she going to think when she finds out about Riddle?!"

None of Adelaide's words made any sense... Sure, it hurt when she found out Adelaide lied about talking to her dad, but after Mary talked things over with her mother she could see that the only reason Adelaide did it was because she felt like she had no other choice... But Mary's gut told her that the lies Adelaide was referring to now were probably about something else... What else could she be lying about that would make her this upset? Did she have another werewolf friend or something? And why was she so afraid of her finding out about a stupid riddle?

Mary peaked through the branches of the bush which was hiding her and had to hold her nose not to sneeze from the wretched all pink flowers. Sirius was now holding Adelaide's face in his hands, tenderly stroking her hair... Mary really hoped they wouldn't start snogging...

"Addy. What Riddle does or thinks isn't your fault—" Sirius said in what Mary guessed was supposed to be a reassuring tone.

Adelaide pulled away. "It will be my fault if she gets hurt because of it. But it isn't just about him—there's Alexander and all those dreams..."

This was making even less sense than before. How the hell would a riddle think? How would it hurt her? Who the hell was Alexander? And why the hell were her nightmares suddenly such a concern to her? Mary had been there for her since second year when her mother first attacked her and _always_ helped her calm down when she'd wake up from a bad dream... Even during their estrangement those past two weeks, she'd privately checked in with Poppy to make sure Adelaide had a refill on the calming potions she took before bed...

"That's not even—She's not going to stop being your friend because of _that_!" Sirius replied sternly, clearly getting a little worked up.

"Well maybe she should!" Adelaide said, voice breaking despite her slightly aggressive tone. "Maybe she'd be happier without having me in her life—"

"Hippogriff shit..." Mary hissed indignantly in a nasally voice, nose still pinched so she wouldn't sneeze. If the weeks they'd spent apart proved anything, it was that she was most certainly _not_ happier without Adelaide in her life. Actually, she was downright miserable.

Adelaide must have heard her with her super cat hearing, for a moment later her head whipped toward the flowery bush her sneaky friend was still crouched behind. Mary stayed frozen, barely daring to breathe, praying that she wouldn't notice her. She had the distinct impression that Adelaide would be mortified if she ever found out she was spying on her like this.

"Addy, that's not true... you _know_ that isn't true..." Sirius said, guiding her face away from the bush which she was studying so intently so he could look her in the eyes.

"But-but what if she gets hurt because of me... I don't know how I'd live with myself, Siri..."

Why Adelaide was so hung up on her getting hurt, Mary didn't know, but she could tell just from her voice that it was eating her up inside. Mary had rarely heard her sound so vulnerable and afraid.

"Addy, I get it—" Sirius said calmly.

"No, you don't—!" she lashed out.

"Yes, I do!" he insisted. "You don't think I'm terrified about that monster hurting you, or Reg, or James? What do you think those nightmares I have are all about, Ads?!"

Monster? He couldn't be referring to Remus, could he? By now, Mary was now absolutely certain that she was overhearing something she really shouldn't... She knew she should be trying to think of a way to escape... but something, curiosity she supposed, kept her rooted in that spot behind the bush.

Adelaide stammered incoherently and Sirius continued. "I get that you're scared— I _really_ do, Addy... But you should at least give her a choice—Tell Mary the truth and let her decide for herself if she wants to take the risk—"

"But what if she doesn't!" Adelaide said, nearing the point of tears. "What-what if she doesn't think it's w-worth it— what if she doesn't think I- _I'm_ worth it!"

It took every ounce of will power Mary possessed not to pop out from behind that bush, squeeze Addy, and tell her she was being ridiculous and that she'd do anything for her. How could she not know that she would do anything for her?

"Addy, you just have to be brave! Do you really want to keep going on like this?! Depressed and driving yourself mad with fear of what she might or might not do?"

Adelaide sniffled and Mary saw her wipe her face with her sleeve as she shook her head.

"Then talk to her..."

Adelaide's next words were drowned out by the chiming of the bell announcing that their first class was about to begin. Mary stayed hidden, watching as the two ran inside to grab their things from the great hall before she finally stopped pinching her nose. She then sneezed several times in a row.

"Mary?! Mary, are you out here—?"

Mary looked through the branches and saw a handsome brunette boy in Slytherin robes searching around the courtyard. He was just heading back toward the door when she sneezed again.

"Mare?"

Slowly, Evan walked toward her, then peered down at her in a lighthearted mixture of confusion, contemplation, and amusement.

Mary sneezed again.

"Bless you." he whispered politely as he shimmied behind the bush and crouched down beside her, pulling out a clean handkerchief from his pocket.

"Thanks..." she muttered as she sniffled.

"Is there a particular reason why you're hiding behind a shrub when you should be on your way to charms?" he whispered again, with a smile playing at his lips.

"I was... I was spying on Addy—but not— _achoo_!—intentionally! What're _you_ doing here?"

Evan looked curiously at her for a moment. "I saw you telling off that ginger kid in the hall... and when you left I was worried you'd run off to hex him... I had no idea you were engaging in _espionage_!" he ended with a laugh.

Mary scowled and gave him a playful shove. "It's not funny, Ev... she was really, _really_ upset... I heard her talking with Sirius... She-she thinks I won't want to be her friend anymore and-and kept going on about lying... a riddle hurting me...and some guy named Alexander... It didn't make any sense at all!"

Evan's eyes widened and his face grew pale. "A-a riddle?"

"Yeah... apparently she was really worried about that one..." she trailed off. He looked so stricken with fear, the same sort of fear Mary sensed in Adelaide when she spoke of it. Was the riddle a prophesy? A code word for something dangerous? Adelaide did say that she was afraid the riddle would hurt her... did Evan know about it too?

She was about to ask him when the second bell rang.

"Mary, come on we're going to be late..." he said, faking a smile as he rose to his feet, offering her a hand up.

* * *

That evening in the common room, Marlene sat alone in a window seat, curled up under a blanket reading Jane Eyre and treating herself by munching on some pumpkin pasties. Lily had gone up to bed early saying that she was coming down with a cold; Adelaide was up in the boys dorm with Sirius and Remus, brooding no doubt; and Mary sat near the fire with a Quidditch magazine in her hands, chatting animatedly with James about various Quidditch current events that only the two of them found remotely interesting. And while Marlene did feel a little bad that Lily was feeling sick and that Adelaide was still moping about her fight with Mary, as a natural introvert, she relished the fact that she was alone and unbothered for once.

Well, she _was_ unbothered until fifth year, Natalie O'Neil came up and said (or more accurately whined), "Marls, there's a Slytherin out there to see your friend Lily."

Marlene, halfway through a bite of a pumpkin pasty, frowned and lowered her book. "Oh, just tell him she already went to bed."

" _You_ tell him," Natalie said impatiently, "I'm tired—I just got out of that stupid prefects meeting that lasted _forever_ — besides, she's _your_ friend not mine!" she said, disappearing up the stairs to the girls' dorms before Marlene could answer.

With a loud, grumbling sigh of annoyance for Natalie's less than helpful attitude, Marlene stood up from the window seat she was occupying and marched over to the portrait hole, a half-eaten pumpkin pasty still in hand, hair in braided pigtails, dressed in her favorite sapphire blue pajamas. With a flourish, she swung the portrait door open and began to speak without even spying the alleged Slytherin.

"Lily already went up to bed, Snape— I'm afraid you'll just have to wait until the morning to declare your undying love for... her..." she trailed off, breath catching at the sight of the black haired boy slouched against the wall. She blinked and her stomach swooped. "You're not Snape." she announced in surprise.

"Why would I be Snape?" Regulus asked straightening up, clearly just as surprised to see her as she was to see him.

"N-natalie said a Slytherin was here to see Lily... I thought—I just assumed it was him..." she trailed off. "Why are you here?" she asked bluntly.

He scratched the back of his neck. "Lily's been helping me with arithmancy... I had some questions about my homework..." He lifted up a grey arithmancy workbook as evidence of this fact.

Marlene stared back at him blankly. "Oh... Well... she already went up to bed..."

"I know."

" _You know?_ "

"Well, yeah—That was the first thing you said!" he replied with a soft chuckle.

"Oh... right..."

"Is that a pumpkin pasty?"

Following his gaze, Marlene looked at the half-eaten sweet in her hand as if she just remembered it was there, which Regulus found surprisingly cute. There was just something about seeing tough Marlene McKinnon all dolled up and adorable in her night clothes, covered in pumpkin pasty crumbs that made his heart ache in a bittersweet sort of way.

"Yes. Yes it is." she answered still looking down at the treat.

A long moment of silence lapsed, though it wasn't necessarily as awkward as one would expect. It had been months since they'd had a conversation with one another of any sort and neither really knew what to say, but they both wished to say _something,_ not wanting this happy accidental meeting to conclude quite so quickly.

"Do you... erm... do you want some? P-pumpkin Pasties, I mean?" Marlene stammered out, wondering when the hell she started tripping over her words like an idiot.

Yes. Yes he absolutely did. "Oh—I mean you-you don't have to..." he said politely, scratching the back of his neck again with a nervous chuckle.

"You can just say no if you don't want any. It won't hurt my feelings. But I _do_ have a bunch—way more than one person should probably have... and there's a _very_ good chance I'll make myself sick eating them all tonight if someone doesn't stop me..." she shrugged with a light smirk.

He laughed. "Well, if it's a matter of your health, I don't know how I _can_ say no!"

Marlene smiled brightly back at him with that sweet, genuine, carefree smile he rarely saw. He would have done anything to see her smile like that more often. "Right. Well just... stay here—I'll go get them and be right back—!"

"Why can't I come in too?" he asked too innocently, walking toward the portrait hole, fighting to keep from smiling.

She stopped him, placing a hand on his chest to push him back, but still he craned his head to see through the door, catching a fleeting glimpse of the warm and cozy common room within.

"No snakes allowed, Black!" she laughed.

"Oh, come on, McKinnon! Everyone will just think I'm Sirius with a hair cut!" he tried, fully grinning at this point.

"No!" she laughed again, still trying to push him back, getting orange crumbs on his shirt.

"Oh my! I've forgotten my manners, haven't I! ... _Please_ let me in?" he asked, innocent smile full of mirth.

Marlene couldn't contain her amusement, laughing even more as she tried to stand firm. "No, it's against the rules!"

"Against the rules!" he parroted back sarcastically. "Says the girl who nearly got me killed by giant spiders in the Black Forest! Come on, live a little— just a quick tour—" He made another half-hearted go toward the door.

"No, no, no! Stop it! Stop it, Black or I-I'll—"

"Or you'll _what_ , McKinnon?" he challenged standing even closer.

" _Or_ I won't give you any sweets!" she said fiercely, looking up at him.

Regulus stopped struggling and looked down at her, aghast. "That's a low blow, McKinnon..." He shook his head slowly in mock disappointment, face close enough that his breath made the baby hairs around her face flutter.

Marlene laughed once again, a little out of breath. "Just stay put!" she said, backing away while raising up a hand to stay him and slipping through the portrait hole before he could say anything else.

Her breath was heavy as she leaned against the wall and tried to recover from her light spat, then she made her way though the common room to the window seat, hoping that she wouldn't draw too much attention. She grabbed her book, blanket, and of course her large supply of pumpkin pasties stored in a brown paper bag with the Honeydukes emblem stamped in dark green ink, then sneakily crept toward the door once again, until—

"Marls? Where're you going?" James called from where he still sat near the fire with Mary.

Mary's eyes lit up in surprise. "Marley—Oh! You look a little warm... are you feeling alright?"

Marlene fought to keep composed. "I'm fine..."

"Wait a second... are you—you're not—Merlin's knickers, you're _blushing_!" Mary squealed.

"I am not!" Marlene fired back, holding her things tighter to her chest, even though she could feel her cheeks burning.

James's smile was irritatingly smug. "You have a boy out there don't you..."

"No!" Marlene lied.

"Yes, you do!" he insisted. "Go on, which poor sod is it this time?"

Marlene rolled her eyes. James could be such a girl. "Even if I _did_ have a boy out there waiting for me, _which I don't_ , why in the world would I tell _you_ , Potter?!"

"Perhaps to make your most handsome ex jealous?" he winked.

Mary laughed loudly. "Oh, come on! Just tell us! It's not Davey Gudgeon, is it? No— wait you broke things off with him last week...Oh, oh! Let me guess! Is it... Benjy Fenwick? No, no no... I bet it's Gaspard Shingleton, the Ravenclaw from Transfiguration! It is, isn't it! I always thought you'd go for the quiet type in the end..."

"NO! Stop it! Both of you! I was only talking to Martin!" Marlene lied aggressively. "I didn't want to say because I was afraid it would bother you, Mary! Now, please just stop!"

"But that still doesn't explain why you're blushing." James said cooly. "Or why you're packing up all your things to go out when its nearly curfew..."

Marlene silently cursed James Potter and his astute observations. "It's none of your business!" she said, making her way toward the portrait hole, not wishing to entertain their pestering nonsense any longer.

However, to her great horror, James leapt to his feet and chased after her, blocking her path. "As your friend and ex-boyfriend, McKinnon, I feel the need to warn this sad bloke beforehand—" he laughed, trying to keep her from passing.

"MOVE POTTER—"

"Oh dear! Temper, temper! See, this is just the thing the poor lad needs to be wary of—"

"POTTER THIS ISN'T FUNNY!"

"No! No, it really isn't!" he said trying to act serious, but failing stupendously, lips tilting into a crooked grin. "This is a very grave matter, indeed!"

"Potter, move before I hex you!"

"Mary! Do you see a wand on her?!" he called out to Mary, who Marlene just realized was now standing behind her.

"Nope! You're good, Jamie!"

"Traitor!" Marlene spat over her shoulder. "I don't need a wand to hit you, Potter!"

James backed away a fraction. He knew that Marlene didn't make empty threats. "Why're you so cross if there's only your brother out there? Unless you were _lying_..."

"UGH!" If Marlene's hands weren't full she would have sprung on him like a mad cat. "Go away now, or I'll never help you with Lily ever again!"

"I don't need your help with Evans!" he said unconvincingly, crossing his arms over his chest. "She already fancies me—"

Mary laughed loudly. "Yeah right!"

James frowned, muttered, "Rude," under his breath, then sighed loudly, moving aside so she could pass. "Fine... fine... You win this time, Marls."

Marlene eyed him suspiciously. It couldn't be that easy, could it?

"Well go on!" he said, gesturing for her to walk on toward the portrait hole.

She did so, warily, and to her great surprise, he let her pass uninhibited—that was, until she stepped out. Swooping up behind her in a rush, he stuck his head out and shouted, "OI! MYSTERY BOY! BE CAREFUL WITH THIS ONE! SHE'S MORE VICIOUS THAN A HANGRY CHIMAERA WHEN SHE'S PISSED!"

"POTTER! GO AWAY!" Marlene stomped on his foot and shoved him back through the portrait hole roughly, slamming the portrait door in his face, much to the Fat Lady's distress.

"Screaming! Slamming doors! I think that friend of yours has a point!" the painted woman huffed.

Marlene rolled her eyes, looking around and expecting to see Regulus leaned against the wall sniggering, but he was no where to be found...

 _Surely_ , he couldn't have stood her up... or at least she hoped he hadn't. Even though she knew an actual relationship with him was out of the question, she really had missed hanging out and talking to him those few long months since their parting... and if his not-so-subtle glances at her during meals were any indication, he missed her as well.

Wrapping her blanket around her shoulders like a shawl, Marlene crept through nearby corridors to look for him. James _was_ quite loud and she figured her sneaky Slytherin may have heard him and slithered into hiding.

Her bare feet padded silently around one corner and then another. The faint sounds of a hushed conversation echoed through the halls in fragments, piquing her curiosity further.

 _"... about Riddle... hasn't told her... anything to you?"_

 _"Riddle? No... well, when he got hurt... December... she... maybe again February... but won't talk about it..."_

Marlene didn't recognized the first voice immediately, but the second was definitely Regulus. Leaning against the cool stone wall of the corridor, just out of view, she wondered who and what on earth they were talking about... She crept closer to better hear, still staying hidden in the shadows.

 _"Please, just talk to her..."_ the first voice, a boy, pleaded.

 _"I'll try... But you know how Addy is when it comes to—"_ The rest of Regulus's sentence was indecipherable as the bell announcing the beginning of curfew began to drone on through the castle.

 _"Curfew... better head back down—"_ said the first voice.

 _"I'll be down a little later, Ev. I've still gotta talk to Lily about that formula I was working on earlier."_ said Regulus.

Marlene smirked to herself. At least she wasn't the only one lying about their little rendezvous.

After a few more parting whispers, footsteps grew nearer to where she was standing and she retreated back, hiding behind a corner near a random suit of armor and watching a boy with brown hair walk off in the opposite direction, while Regulus ran a tired hand though his hair. Marlene didn't reveal herself right away, though she could have; she wanted to observe him.

He held himself differently when he was alone (or rather, when he _thought_ he was alone), she noticed. The well mannered, and carefully crafted guise he usually wore fell, revealing a burdened weariness that affected him in every sense—his shoulders slumped forward, his brow furrowed, and his grey eyes, even in the dim light of the corridor, held a kind of bittersweet coolness about them.

She didn't know what the whispered conversation with his friend was about, nor did she see the use of trying to guess, but she could tell that what ever it was made him sad... not just sad, but truly, and desperately downcast (a feeling she knew better than most). He wore the same glum expression as he did the last time she found him sitting outside all alone after dinner back in February... She would have done anything to keep him from making that face ever again.

Pulling herself away from the wall, she walked toward him confidently. "Hey, you!" she called with a smile. He turned, and his face lit up as he caught sight of her. "I thought you'd run out on me!" she teased, pushing him playfully as she approached.

"Never!" he laughed. "My cousin just got out of some prefect meeting and I was just talking with him for a bit while I waited for you." he shrugged. Marlene eyed him suspiciously; however, if Regulus noticed her unspoken suspicions he didn't address them. "So, have you got the goods?" he asked wiggling his eyebrows ever so slightly.

Marlene smirked and held up the paper bag.

From there, Marlene led him through several winding corridors to an unused classroom in an abandoned stretch of the castle. The room was lit only by the nearly full moon shining through a dust covered, whistling window, and knitted cobwebs dressed the walls and disheveled desks. It was cold, uninviting and would have made for a rather gloomy and foreboding haunt to any other pair, but to Marlene and Regulus, it was perfect: a serendipitous sanctuary like no other.

Marlene spread her blanket down in the moonlight, Regulus insisted upon casting warming charms for the both of them, and soon they sat comfortably upon the floor munching on Marlene's plethora of pumpkin pasties.

"When you said you had a bunch, I didn't think you had enough to feed the whole bloody castle, McKinnon!" Regulus chuckled with his mouth full. "Where'd you even get them all? Must've cost a fortune!"

"My mum sent them by owl-order—" she said casually. "But I think they got here a little earlier than intended—my birthday's in a couple of days and she always makes a big fuss—"

"You're birthday! When's your birthday?"

"April 18th."

Regulus smiled. "Well happy early birthday then."

Marlene smiled back slightly. She didn't see the point in making a big deal out of surviving another year on the planet, but she appreciated the sentiment.

They continued to eat in a companionable silence for the next few minutes, until an idea came to Marlene.

"We should play truth or dare." she stated.

Regulus made a face, and not a pleasant one.

"What? What's with that face?" Marlene asked in what some might consider an abrasive tone, pointing at said face. "You afraid I'll ask you hard questions?"

"No." Regulus answered immediately.

"Then what is it?"

Regulus sighed loudly. "Well if I pick dare you'll make me get up..."

"So?"

"So, I'm lazy." he said, only half-joking. "Let's just—I dunno—play _truth or truth_ or something..."

Marlene wasn't all that thrilled with the name, but thought it over briefly.

When she didn't answer immediately Regulus smirked and playfully thew a crumb at her surly little face. "What's with the face, McKinnon? Afraid I'll ask you hard questions?"

"No! I was thinking about how stupid the name was—it's basically just twenty questions if you cut out all the daring bits..."

"Twenty questions it is then—right, I'll start!" he said quickly before she could protest. "What's that book you're reading?"

Marlene looked around, puzzled. "Book? Oh! Forgot I brought that... It's Jane Eyre."

"Is it good?"

"It's Jane Eyre." she repeated as if this explained her point, but not an inkling of recognition passed by his face.

"You said that already— I asked if it was good or not..."

Marlene stared at him incredulously. "I know what you asked—I just don't understand why you would have to ask it! Have you seriously never heard of Jane Eyre?!"

Regulus's eyebrows were raised in surprise and he shook his head slowly as an amused smile began to paint itself across his features, from his lips, all the way up to his eyes. "No, I haven't... Is it good?" he asked once again, knowing full well it would rile her up further.

"It's one of the best books ever written in the English language! It's not just good its— its _brilliant_!"

"So, _very_ good then," he surmised.

"Yes, Black. It's very good."

"What's it about?"

"Isn't it my turn to ask a question?"

"Probably," he shrugged. "But I think we could bend the rules a little..."

Marlene rolled her eyes. "Well I don't want to spoil some parts because I fully plan on forcing you to read it— but it's about a girl named Jane Eyre. She's an orphan— she's kind of weird and has a sad childhood but ends up going to this big house and becomes a governess for a little French girl who's the ward of the master of the house, Mr. Rochester. That's when things get good— so the rest of the story is basically about the two of them falling in love, but there's all this stuff standing in the way of them actually being together: society, the fact that he's rich and she's poor, and other things... But really none of it matters because they just... connect... They're super different personalty wise, but still, it's like they're both on the same wavelength... They just _get_ each other, and balance each other out... which makes it all so much more tragic... And it's all just written so beautifully... and well, here." she placed the book in his hands. "You just read it for yourself and see."

Regulus was so enamored listening to her description that he was caught off guard by her forcing the tattered brown book into his hands. "What—No, I couldn't— it-it's yours—"

"I've read it four times already. Besides, you're in more need of enlightenment than I am, Black." she smirked. "Just promise me you'll actually read it." she added with more seriousness.

Regulus looked down at the book, flipping through and seeing where she'd dog eared pages, underlined passages, and made notes in the margins... It was clearly her favorite book, and the fact that she found him worthy enough to be entrusted with it said more than words could really express. "I promise." he said quietly, looking into her blue eyes, which seemed to glitter in the moonlight.

They continued to chat for at least another two hours, laughing and talking about anything and everything. Some of these topics included: what book was his favorite, what animal they thought the other's patronus might be (Marlene was convinced his would be a falcon while he refused to entertain the notion that she was anything besides a fox), their most embarrassing moments (Regulus found the story of how she stubbornly pretended to be a horse for a month when she was five particularly hilarious), what they wanted to be when they grew up (Marlene, an Auror, and Regulus a Magizoologist), and eventually they began talking about their families.

"...Martin and I have always butted heads—but my little sister Millie and I get along great—she's just the sweetest— total opposite of me! Martin and I are both convinced she'll be a Hufflepuff— she's starting school here next year—my little cousins too, the twins, Davis and Elinor—they came to live with us after my aunt died—I feel kind of bad for mum, she's going to be all alone next year without Dad and the little ones around to bug..." Marlene trailed off.

"What's your mum like? I'm guessing she's pretty generous if she sent you all these sweets." Regulus chuckled, trying to steer the conversation away from her father and those dark places her mind must have been running too.

Marlene smiled softly. Not a single person at Hogwarts besides Lily had ever asked about her mother. "She's a much better person than me... really sweet and gentle and nurturing, but hard as nails on the inside. People think I got all my feistiness from dad because he's kind of gruff—but it's all her." she laughed, eyes alight with remembrance.

"She's a muggle, right?" Regulus asked, knowing full well that she was a half-blood.

Marlene shook her head. "Nope, Muggle-born—That's probably why she's so strong; Has to be with things the way they are for people like her..."

Regulus squirmed uncomfortably with this turn in the conversation.

"So, what're your mum and dad like?" she asked, momentarily forgetting that he was related to the same evil, prejudiced parents as Sirius.

Regulus squirmed more uncomfortably. "Erm... Well they're pretty strict... Big on manners and appearances and stuff... drives Sirius nuts..." he said quietly, suddenly finding the hem of his sleeve intensely interesting. "My uncle Alphard is pretty cool, though!" he added a bit more brightly. "and my cousin Andy is fantastic! She's always been mine and Sirius's favorite— well she was... until..." he trailed off uncomfortably again.

"Until?" Marlene prodded.

"Well... she-she got disowned..." he said reluctantly, as if he were ashamed.

Marlene didn't understand why his cousin being disowned would affect him so personally. Surely it wasn't _his_ fault. "Why?" she asked bluntly, as she usually did.

"Well... the family wasn't really all that thrilled with the bloke she married..."

"What was wrong with him?"

"He's um... I dunno... They just didn't approve..."

Marlene was certain that there was more to the story and he was just avoiding her question for some reason.

"Hmm... So, speaking of cousins... What were you and your cousin talking about earlier, before I found you?"

It was obvious by the way he tensed up that she'd broached an even more sensitive subject, but she still wanted to understand what it was that made him so miserable after his cousin left...

"Nothing really... This and that..."

 _"This and that?"_ she repeated with a laugh. "That is the most vague answer I've ever heard! Come on! I heard you mention Addy and a riddle, what was—"

"—You _heard_?!" he said incredulously, brows furrowed. "You—you were spying on me?!"

Marlene bristled at his insinuation. "No. I was looking for you and I heard bits and pieces when I was walking up—"

This only calmed him down by a fraction. "Well it-it was nothing—"

"It _wasn't_ nothing!" she bit back. "I saw how it bothered you—!"

"—And since when do you care what bothers me, McKinnon?!" he snapped with more venom than he had ever directed her.

Marlene stared at him mutely. When _did_ she start caring?

"Look, I'm sorry—it's really late— I-I should go—" he muttered standing up.

Marlene grabbed his hand and pulled him back down. "I don't know." she stated quietly.

Regulus blinked in confusion.

"I don't know when I started caring about what bothers you... But I _do_ care... Which is sort of weird, because I honestly don't care about most people... Like I've said, I'm not as good a person as my mum and sister—" she cut herself off, realizing that she was both rambling (another anomaly), and holding his hand in both of hers. She let it go quickly and began fiddling with the end of one of her braids, trying to keep her breath steady.

Then, for a long few moments, there was silence between them—A tense silence that only the faint whistling of the winds of the window could penetrate, until finally Regulus reached for her hand, holding it in his, and said in just above a whisper, "You're a really good person, Marlene."

The way he said it confused her. The way his voice inflected, the pained look that fell over him—it was as if by saying she was a good person, it meant he couldn't be. Now, Marlene was not an empathetic person by nature (or at least, she never thought she was), but seeing him so overcome by some invisible burden once more made something within her stir. Before she knew what she was doing, she found herself wrapping her arms around his neck, resting her head on his shoulder. "You're a really good person too, Regulus." she whispered, feeling warm and safe as his arms wrapped around her as well.

She knew they couldn't be together. She knew that after this they would both go back to their dorms, and by the next day they would continue to pretend they didn't know each other— that their evening of laughter and eating nearly enough sweets to make them sick would fade into nothing but a memory. She knew she could never be the person he deserved, but she at least needed him to know that he was good.

 **A/N:**

 **Hello friends!**

 **I'm sorry it took so long for me to update. I had a close relative pass away right after I published the previous chapter and had to take some time away from writing for personal reasons. But now I'm back and will hopefully be updating more regularly! Thank you so much for all your love and support, it really means more to me than you could ever imagine!**

 **-Grace**

 **PS: Does anyone have some good ship names for Marlene and Regulus?**


	97. Chapter 97

**Chapter 97– Mystery Lad**

The weather that Sunday afternoon, April 20th, was perfect. The air was crisp, cool, and still smelled slightly of rain from the shower earlier that morning, with a slight breeze that blew the wispy clouds through the blue sky and rustled the wildflowers blooming far below them. Adelaide zoomed faster and faster, higher and higher through the atmosphere, reveling in the feeling of wind whipping against her skin, hair flying out behind her, and the little swoop in her stomach when she'd throw in a loop. For the first time, she understood why Regulus envied all those damn birds.

Flying like this, untethered amongst the vastness of the open sky; It felt like freedom.

Usually, the only time she got to fly during the week was at Quidditch practice, and while she _loved_ playing, the methodical structure of practices had a knack for sucking the fun out of flying.

But this wasn't practice. This was just her and her best friend flying for the hell of it and she was having a ball.

Something between a laugh and a shout of glee tumbled from her lips as she looped over to where Regulus was hovering. "Reggie— This is hands down—the _best_ idea—you've _ever_ had!" she beamed, reaching out to ruffle his slightly windblown hair.

Regulus smirked, patting his hair down. "I don't know why you sound so surprised—All my ideas are brilliant."

Ignoring his egotistical comment, Adelaide took a deep breath then shouted, "I FEEL LIKE A BIRD!" out to the clouds, arms out stretched and flapping in a very avian fashion—coincidentally startling a few of her feathered brethren from the trees below.

Regulus laughed loudly at her ridiculousness. "You _look_ like a bird!"

Adelaide moved forward on her broom, flapping her 'wings' 'gracefully'. "What kind of bird?" she asked wistfully, sweeping in a circle around him. "A swan? A dove?"

Regulus smirked wide. "I was going to say a goose..."

Adelaide stopped abruptly then rounded to scowl at him. "Excuse me?!"

"Nah, you're right, not nearly awkward enough... You're more like a penguin...or an ostrich... or a... Oh wait, I know! You're a _blue footed booby_! Bet you anything that's your patronus!" he laughed, looking entirely too pleased with himself.

Adelaide didn't know what kind of bird a blue footed booby was, but the way he was laughing told her it was not the sort she should consider a complement to be compared to. Scrunching up her nose in annoyance, she shoved his arm just hard enough that it hurt, but not enough to knock him off his broom. However, Regulus didn't seem to notice as he was nearly doubled over in laughter at her reaction.

"Oh Ha ha! _Very_ funny! I'll have you know my patronus is a cat!" she said primly, nose in the air.

Regulus managed to rein in his chuckles enough to say, "What? How do you know what your patronus is?"

Adelaide froze for a moment. Was he supposed to know she could do the patronus charm? She supposed it wasn't a _big_ secret; wasn't illegal like some of the other spells she knew... just a little more advanced than what one would typically expect out of a fourth year. "Erm... well I cast the spell and it was a cat sooo..." she trailed off, trying to sound casual.

Regulus, who assumed she was lying at first, eyed her carefully. "You—You can actually cast a patronus?" he asked in disbelief. "A fully corporal patronus?"

Adelaide shrugged, still trying to play it cool. "Yeah."

"Holy shit, Addy! That's—that's—" he was gawking at her, trying to find the right words.

"It's sort of cool..." she supplied casually, feeling a little proud at how excited he was.

"Cooler than cool! Do you know how long I've been obsessed with that charm?! Merlin! Oh, Marlene's going to flip out when I tell her—"

Adelaide arched an eyebrow. "You're going to tell _Marlene_?"

The whole subject of 'Marlene' had been taboo ever since he screamed at her during breakfast before her game with Ravenclaw, but now here he was, bringing her up _willingly._ Oh, this was very intriguing indeed. It was almost as intriguing as when she saw the two of them on the map earlier that week while she was avoiding Mary by pigging out on Remus and Sirius's candy stash's. Truthfully, it was part of the reason she agreed to hang out with him that day.

Regulus opened his mouth, then shut it, looking at her in slight horror. The corner of her mouth twitched into a devilish smirk. "You know... I've been meaning to ask about _that_..." she said slyly.

He scratched his neck nervously and squirmed at lot on his broom, but didn't respond verbally or otherwise, probably hoping she would let the subject drop.

But that wasn't about to happen.

"Word around school is she's got herself a 'mystery lad' that she's just _smitten_ with... James said he was waiting outside the common room one night... and apparently he even sent her flowers on Friday..."

"Well it was her birthday—could have been anyone." he retorted shortly, obviously feeling like that was a good come back. Little did he know, Marlene was very careful whom she told about her birthday— said she hated it when people made a big fuss... But she didn't seem to mind in the least when a conspicuous arrangement of gardenias were delivered anonymously at lunch that Friday...

"Fair point..." Adelaide smirked even wider. "And you know that Friday was her birthday... _how_ exactly?"

Regulus tensed and pursed his lips, obviously trying to come up with a plausible reason... but after a long few moments he caved. "Fine! She told me when we hung out earlier this week! Happy now, you big nosey git?!"

"Immensely!" Adelaide laughed. "Oh my goodness! You have to tell me _everything_!" she squealed.

Regulus groaned and hid his face in his hands. "No!"

"Okay, maybe not _everything_..." she acquiesced. "Come on Reggie... I promise I won't make a big deal out of it—"

"You better not!" he warned, face still hidden.

"Please? Just tell me _something..._ "

Regulus ran his hands over his face and through his hair, taking a moment to gather his thoughts, then, with a deep breath he glanced at Adelaide with a wary look, as if he knew he'd regret what he was about to say, eyes finally fixing themselves on a cloud that looked like a fox. "I know what you're getting at, but no, I didn't kiss her... we just ate these pumpkin pasties her mum sent her and talked... we talked a lot... and hugged— once."

Adelaide nodded, trying to reign in the overwhelming urge to squeal. "That sounds... pleasant..." she said in the controlled, polite voice she usually reserved for Pureblood functions.

"It was..." he said, a small smiled tugging at his mouth. "It was very _pleasant_..."

"Are you... are you planning to see her again anytime soon?" Adelaide asked, trying her very hardest not to sound too excited. "There's a Hogsmeade trip coming up..."

Regulus turned to look at her and gave a sad smile at her desperate attempts to stifle her enthusiasm on his behalf, then shook his head. "No... But I mean... I think it's better that way..." he shrugged.

"Better what way?!" Adelaide asked incredulously, all attempts to keep controlled and polite out the window at this point. "You fancy her— and judging by the way she was grinning like an idiot when she got those flowers, I'd say she fancied you too—"

"I-I mean she might... But it's not about that, Ads... I—" He took a deep steadying breath, eyes closing momentarily. "I think she's brilliant... and I love hanging out with her... but I just think it's safer for her if I keep my distance..." he said in a cool, controlled voice, not unlike the one Adelaide was using only a moment before. She pouted slightly at his lame reasoning. "Riddle is already targeting her family— if he knows about— about whatever's going on between us, he might try to use me to hurt her..."

Adelaide swallowed hard, tensing up at the mention of that monster, especially in relation to Marlene's father. "You're a really good occlumens though, Reggie... If anyone could make it work it'd be you—"

"But what if my parents found out, Ads?" he said more desperately, thinking about the way they battered Sirius over the holidays—how angry they were when cousin Andromeda married that muggle-born, Ted... How much more angry would his mother be if she caught word that her son, her one good son was sullying himself by dating a half-blood? He shuddered at the thought.

"Well... My dad says a little rebellion is healthy at our age..." she said, trying to lighten the mood.

"Why doesn't that surprise me?" Regulus laughed sadly, running his hands through his hair. "Let's just talk about something else... yeah?"

Adelaide nodded. Despite how much she really wanted to convince him to date Marlene, she knew if she pressed the matter further she'd only end up fighting with him.

The two glided around over the black lake, chatting about birds, quidditch, and the random flowers and drawing charms Adelaide had read about recently until it was nearly sunset, at which point Adelaide's stomach growled aggressively and she suggested that they head back to the castle for dinner.

"Wait!" Regulus yelped when she started back towards the grounds without him.

Adelaide flew back up to him, looking a little on the hangry side. "What?"

"I had something else I needed to talk to you about..." he said cautiously.

Adelaide rolled her eyes in exasperation and flew back up to where he was hovering. "Well make it quick! I want to get down to dinner before James eats all the mashed potatoes again!"

Regulus laughed, more out of nerves than anything. "Right... well... I just wanted to know if you've um... heard anything from Riddle... erm... concerning Mary..."

Adelaide blinked. "What?" she asked blankly.

"Well I know you and Mare still aren't talking... and I know it's because your dad found out about the trip or something and Ev— I mean I— _I_ was just wondering if it had something to do with Riddle too... I thought maybe he'd said something or wrote about her or..."

"No." Adelaide said quickly. "I haven't seen or heard from him since the gala over summer..."

"But over break... when Sirius was all high on pain potions.. you said he was following you..."

"I— I mean yeah... sort of... he's keeping tabs on me... that's what dad thinks anyway..." she said quietly, running a hand through her messy windblown hair and avoiding his eyes. "But I haven't— he hasn't _actually_ threatened her..." then as an after thought, she added, "You can tell Evan to stop worrying..."

Regulus nodded in understanding. "Does she... Have you told her? About Riddle, I mean?"

Adelaide looked over at him with glassy eyes and shook her head. "Sirius wants me too... But I—" She looked back down at her broom. "I'm scared she'll think it's too much..." she admitted quietly. "It's sort of a lot to put on someone, you know? And she's so sensitive... I don't want to scare her..."

Again, Regulus nodded in understanding, taking a deep breath. "For what it's worth, Mary doesn't strike me as the kind of girl that scares easily... but it's your choice." he shrugged. "Um... but do you think you could... I mean _if_ you tell her... could you maybe not mention Evan knowing Riddle? He want's to be the one to tell her..." he trailed off awkwardly.

Adelaide smirked slightly knowing that Evan probably begged Regulus to talk to her on his behalf. "Sure... Oh, and Reggie..."

He looked up at her nervously.

"Thanks for today... It was fun just flying around with you." she smiled.

He laughed in relief. "Well you are most welcome, Fawley! If you ever want to fly around pretending to be a goose again, just write me."

"I'm _not_ a goose!" she fired back, laughing despite herself as they flew back down to the castle.

* * *

Later that evening, a little sleepy after a long afternoon of flying and a big dinner (which included a large portion of mashed potatoes Sirius saved for her), Adelaide sat on her bed, mindlessly flipping through the pages of a book on magical wildflowers that, surprisingly, her father sent to her— apparently anything plant related reminded him of her. She smiled to herself thinking about how horribly and hilariously uncomfortable he was around the plants when they visited the magical flower shop over break.

Taking a break from reading about some singing tulips, she stood up and quietly watered Bathsheba the Flitterbloom (who, to Peter's great relief, had now come to live on her desk rather than in the boys dorm) and glanced around the eerily quiet dorm room...

Lily and Marlene were usually quiet in the evenings, so there was nothing out of the ordinary in them reading and working on homework, but Mary and Adelaide usually giggled and chatted about the Sunday edition of _Seeker Weekly_ which Mary was currently flipping through.

Adelaide bit the side of her cheek... remembering her conversation with Regulus that afternoon. He was right, she knew he was right—Mary wasn't the type to scare easily. And perhaps it was his words, or Sirius's constant affirmations that everything would work out if she just told Mary the truth, or maybe it was her own selfish desire to finally have her best friend back after three weeks of fighting... but _something_ inside her made her say the words, "Mary, can I talk to you?" almost without her cognitive consent.

Mary looked up, clearly surprised and confused, meanwhile Lily's quill stopped scratching on her parchment, and Marlene's book, which was lifted above her head as she lounged in her bed, fell out of her hands and onto her face (prompting her to curse rather loudly).

The air was tense and everyone was staring at Mary who was staring at Adelaide with wide doe-like eyes.

"YES! Yes she would _love_ to talk to you!" Lily said loudly, coming to Mary's aide from across the room. "Marley and I were just about to head downstairs—"

"Yes! Yes we were just about to head down to talk about Lily's crush on James—" Marlene added (Lily looked livid). "—Which will probably take forever— so you just... you just take all the time you need!" she said happily, pulling Lily toward the door.

Mary was still blinking in surprise when the door shut behind them. "So um... w-what do you want to talk about?"

Adelaide awkwardly shuffled toward her bed and sat down at the edge, fiddling with the hem of her sleeves. She hadn't really thought that far ahead. She gulped and prayed that something would come out when she spoke next. "Erm... I wanted to erm... say sorry... for lying about the game..." The words were awkward and disjointed, and her voice didn't sound like her own, but it was better than nothing she supposed. A beat passed and her mouth started doing that thing where it said words before she could stop it. "It was really shitty of me to do that to you... especially when I knew how much you were looking forward to it... And you don't have to forgive me... but I just need you to know I'm sorry..."

"I forgive you!" Mary said quickly, eyes wide, as if the words caught her off guard.

Adelaide looked up at her and smiled slightly in relief.

"And I'm sorry too! I was so horrible just leaving you like that— not giving you a chance to even explain! Oh you have no idea how _awful_ I felt when James told me about what happened to you as a cat— a _grindylow_ —I just— I can't even imagine how awful that was! I cried when he told me— I think it made him feel sort of awkward— Anyways, I'm _so_ sorry for ignoring you after I got back too— I didn't mean to! I just felt awkward and guilty for the way I treated you and I know it's stupid— I was just so upset that you would feel like you had to lie to me! You know you can tell me anything— anything at all! I won't ever judge you, I swear— I mean what are sisters for anyways? We're basically built in secret keepers and— and— and I'm just so sorry— did I say that already? Because I am!"

Mary was breathless from her rushed rambling and looked slightly frazzled when Adelaide basically tackled her in a hug. "I m-missed you." Adelaide said with tears prickling in her eyes, burying her face in Mary's dark hair.

Mary hugged her back tightly, but Adelaide let her go with a laugh when Mary started sniffling.

Mary laughed as well, wiping her eyes. "Sorry... I just missed you too..." she said with another chuckle, knowing how ridiculous she probably looked.

Adelaide shook her head laughing, "It's fine!" beside herself in happiness to be talking to Mary again... until she remembered what she had to do next. "Um... but there's more... I— Well I have some other stuff I need to tell you about..." she said hesitantly.

Sitting in front of her, in a big Holyhead Harpies sweatshirt, Mary looked almost expectant... like she anticipated that there was more Adelaide needed to tell her, which put Adelaide at ease for some reason. The brunette gave her a nod, indicating that she was listening.

Adelaide nodded to herself and took a deep breath, then with all the Gryffindor courage she possessed, began to tell Mary _everything._

First, she told her about Riddle, trying to get the worst out of the way. She told her about everything from the first time she met him, to how she accidentally read his mind, to how he was pulling the strings on her marriage arrangements, and how he knocked her off her broom during her first quidditch game (Mary was very cross about part).

Then she told her about the dreams, well, more accurately ' _visions_ ', of seeing what Dumbledore believed was the future, of Sirius getting tortured, her garden burning, and how her father said she needed to keep this a secret.

Next, she told Mary about Alexander, how he died, how it was a secret and it inadvertently led her mother to attack her, and how despite being obliviated, her memories were coming back... which was the real reason behind her horrible bout of nightmares that semester.

And lastly, she rounded back to the topic of Riddle... how he had been keeping tabs on her and how she was afraid that Mary being her friend would get her hurt...

It took nearly an hour and a half to get through everything, and by the end Adelaide was exhausted and still unsure whether Mary would still want to be her friend now that she knew the truth, the _whole_ truth, but she also felt as if a heavy weight she didn't realize had even been there had now been lifted from her chest—even breathing seemed easier now.

Mary waited for a moment, but when she was sure Adelaide was finished, she said with a slight smile, "So... There's no weird prophesies, or other werewolves running around campus that I should be worried about?"

Adelaide laughed at the randomness of her question, shaking her head. "No— well not that I'm aware of... why?"

Mary laughed as well, tucking her hair behind her ear. "Okay, don't be mad... but I may have _accidentally_ overheard you talking to Sirius in the courtyard that day I threatened to turn that rude boy into a chicken." she said sheepishly.

"I KNEW IT! I knew someone was behind that bush!" Adelaide exclaimed, pointing at her. "Sirius said I imagined it, but I _knew_ I heard someone!"

"Yeah... that was me..." Mary laughed sheepishly again. "Anyway... None of what you said made any sense at the time... and ever since, I had it in my head that the Riddle was some sort of evil prophesy or something—and when you kept calling him a monster I thought you meant Remus or something— which is awful that I'd ever think that because Remus is such a sweetheart... anyway... Point is... I know it was _really_ hard for you to tell me all of that... Merlin knows it's an awful lot just to take in... but I'm so glad you did. And Addy I just want you to know that I'm not going anywhere. I don't care what that awful man thinks or does— or what weird stuff is going on with you— You're _my_ best friend and I'm keeping you forever and ever!" she said with a teary smile.

Adelaide's lip quivered and she blinked back the wetness in her eyes. "B-but you could get hurt, Mare... are—are you sure?"

"Addy, I'm not going anywhere." she said solemnly. "If I had it my way I'd take you home with me over the summer..."

Adelaide chuckled, sniffling and wiping her eyes with the back of her wrist. "You sound like Sirius..."

"Well... even _he_ has good ideas every once and a while." Mary smirked. "But really... I think you should talk to Dumbledore about finding another place to live, Ads... I thought it was bad before... but now... What're you going to do? Being back in that house with that awful woman? You actually remember your brother now—what's she going to do if she finds out—What if she hurts you again?!"

"I'll be okay, Mare." Adelaide said somewhat surely. "Dad— dad won't let anything else happen... not after last time..."

Mary didn't look entirely convinced. "But still... you shouldn't have to live under the same roof as your abuser..."

Adelaide swallowed the lump in her throat. Mary had a knack for being unintentionally accurate in her descriptions. "I'll be okay, Mare. Besides... I'm sort of excited to go home this time..." she admitted hesitantly.

Mary stared at her as if she'd just admitted she loved the _Chudley Cannons_ or something equally horrifying and nonsensical. " _Why_?"

Adelaide let out another loud breath and hesitantly told Mary about all of her Veela research, even grabbing the stolen library book out of the bottom of her underwear drawer to show her. She hadn't even told Sirius about this. "...and I mean there's a lot of similarities... especially with the whole wandless magic stuff... but _obviously_ it's all garbage... I just... well I had that dream about Alex's birthday when I was reading about them and I thought that if I found the family tree book, I could... you know? Prove to everyone I'm not actually a... a Man-Charming she-bird thing..."

" _Man-Charming she-bird thing_?" Mary snorted.

"Part-Veela— you know what I meant! Stop laughing—!"

"Sorry..." Mary shook her head, trying to stop her laughs with a sigh. "Ads... I'm glad you have something to look forward to... but you don't need to prove anything to anyone other than yourself."

Adelaide furrowed her brows, frustrated that Mary didn't seem to understand how important this was. "But people need to know I'm not one of those—those _things_!"

Mary pursed her lips and gave Adelaide a long look... almost as if she was disappointed, which really didn't make sense. "Okay, first of all... there is absolutely nothing wrong with being a Veela—"

Adelaide's mind flashed with the images of harpy like creatures throwing balls of fire from their hands... Did Mary not hear the part about them throwing fire with their hands?! "But they're—they're— _terrifying_!"

"They can't help what they are, Addy, no more than Remus can help what he is! _Honestly_ , the way you keep going on, you'd think you actually believed in all that blood purity shit—!"

"What?!" Adelaide screeched, voice about an octave higher than usual, genuinely blindsided by this comment. "It's—it's not like that!" she sputtered incoherently. "I'm not like that—You know I would never—"

" _I_ know that—I know you aren't a bigoted idiot... but I'm just saying that's how it comes across when you talk like that." Mary said with an air of finality. "Look, I honestly have no idea if you're a Veela or not— what I'm saying is that it shouldn't matter... Veela, not Veela. The people that matter love you because of _who_ you are not _what_ you are. So if you're looking for the book to see a picture of Alexander or just for your own piece of mind, great—go for it—I fully support you—But if you're trying to get it just to get back at those petty girls who bully you, it will only end up making you more miserable."

Adelaide stared at Mary, unsure of what to say. Mary was right. She said exactly what Adelaide would have if Mary was in her situation... Her friends knew her. Her friends loved her... But to Adelaide it _did_ matter _what_ she was... If she was a Veela, wouldn't that have an affect on how people perceived her? What if her relationships were built on nothing but a lie? What if her relationship— _friendships_ only felt real because of Veela magic or something, but were no more than a projection of her own deeply felt yearning to be loved? How could she be sure of anything, knowing that she might have some secret, unknown power to charm Siri— _people_ into thinking they loved her?

"He's not with you because of all that, you know..." Mary added in a softer tone after a while, pulling Adelaide out of her thoughts.

Adelaide looked up, wordlessly prompting her to elaborate.

"Sirius... If you _are_ part-Veela... that's not why he's with you..." she said comfortingly. "I can tell... just by the way he looks at you... He's not looking at you because you're pretty— I mean, okay sometimes he does— but most of the time its like he looks at you and he sees the Addy hiding in your head— You're incredibly difficult to read you know... I mean I can kind of tell what's going on because I know you, but honestly, half the time I can't tell if you're angry or sad or just hungry... but he does... he sees it all and it's like one of those super powers from those muggle comics... anyway... I promise, he really, genuinely cares about you...regardless of the whole Veela nonsense... if he _didn't_ I would've found a way to sabotage your relationship by now..."

Adelaide laughed, overwhelmed by Mary's kind words and plots of destruction. Of course Mary, the girl who turned Blake Wood purple for not letting her on the Quidditch team third year, and who gave Felicitania Tugwood two black eyes for getting Adelaide knocked off her broom (and who would have done worse had McGonagall not pulled her off of the Ravenclaw girl)—Of _course_ she would have a plan in place were it ever found out Sirius treated her as anything less than a damn princess. "You know, everyone pegs you as an almost-Hufflepuff... but you've got more Slytherin in you than people give you credit for..."

Mary smirked. "You know the sorting hat almost put me in Slytherin..."

"No way!"

Mary nodded with a small smile. "Yeah... I wanted to be in Gryffindor though... Probably because I was really fond of lions back then..." she shrugged as Adelaide laughed, the tense heaviness of their conversation long gone. "It's part of the reason I wanted to be your friend... Well why I tried to be nice to you anyway... People always made comments our first year about how you should have been a Slytherin like it was a bad thing... except Lily of course, but she didn't like you because of the whole thing with Sev... anyway... I always thought we had a lot in common but you were so quiet and always off with the boys... I never really knew what to say or how to be your friend... But when you joined our carriage second year I was so happy to finally have a reason to talk to you..."

Adelaide smiled a wide watery smile. The two continued reminiscing about old times, catching up on what they missed during their fight, and further delving into some things Mary was still confused about after Adelaide's lengthy confession until it was way past curfew. At around 11:30pm, a knock came at the door followed soon after by Lily creeping in with Marlene close behind.

"Sooo... You two good now?" Marlene asked bluntly.

Mary and Adelaide both nodded, grinning.

"OH THANK THE LORD!" Lily shouted in joy, flopping back onto her bed.

Adelaide lifted an eyebrow at her dramatics, which Marlene seemed to catch. "We really did talk about her crush on James—"

"Ugh! For the last time, I do not have a crush on James Potter!" Lily said furiously, wallowing on James Potters wooly blanket.

"Sure you don't..." Marlene smirked, dodging a throw-pillow Lily sent hurtling towards her.

Mary, trying to ease the tension, or at least divert it, clapped her hands together and looked expectantly at Marlene. "Soooo Marls... any new developments in the Mystery Lad department?"

Adelaide and Marlene made brief eye contact.

"Oh! Marley! Tell them about the fox!" Lily said, sitting up and looking much less annoyed.

Marlene groaned as she started to change into her pajamas. "I got a fox. There, now I've told them."

Mary looked around in alarm, as if she thought a real live fox would pop out from under Marlene's bed, but Lily rolled her eyes and said, "She got a cute little stuffed animal fox with a note that said, ' _Wanted to send you Dennis, but the owl would have eaten him. Have a nice night, Foxy_ '!"

"FOXY?! HE CALLS YOU _FOXY_?! THAT'S EFFING ADORABLE!" Mary squealed (as expected). "BUT Whose Dennis?! Why would the owl eat him?! MARLENE, I need _DETAILS_!"

Meanwhile, Adelaide merely raised an eyebrow and looked at Marlene, trying to fight the smirk off her face. So much for keeping his distance, she thought to herself. He was just as hopelessly smitten as she was.

"Shut up, Addy." Marlene muttered savagely with the faintest hint of a blush reddening the tops of her ears. "It's not who you think it is—"

"Who does Addy think it is?!" Mary asked, bouncing on her bed. "Addy, who do you think it is?!"

Adelaide shook her head furiously as she laughed, knowing Marlene and Regulus would hex her into the next year if she breathed so much as a word about their hidden almost-romance. "Oh, I'm not saying _anything_!"

Mary pouted slightly at Adelaide's reluctance to play along, but didn't seem genuinely bothered as she continued to prattle on about Marlene's 'Mystery lad'. "... James and I have a bet going on you know— he thinks its Benjy Fenwick— says she's too smart for the blokes our year and that she'd have to go for someone older, but _I_ still think it's Gaspard Shingleton— you know the Ravenclaw that get's real competitive with you in charms, Ads—"

"Oh! He's working on charming a self-stirring cauldron!" Lily piped in happily. "It's a very tricky charm, but he's managed to get a few to stir without blowing up within the first five minutes." she said as if this was something impressive. It was just a passing comment, but by the way she spoke, Adelaide got the vague impression that were James Potter out of the picture, Lily might be in danger of fancying this Gaspard fellow.

"See! He's smart and creative and kind and quiet... Don't you think they'd be great together Lils?" Mary gushed. Lily furrowed her brows, but didn't answer.

"UGH! Would you just give it a rest?!" Marlene snapped viciously as she yanked a hairbrush through her golden locks. "I do _not_ have a Mystery Lad— just a dopey admirer— So just mind your own damn business!"

A beat passed.

"My money's still on Gaspard Shingleton..." Mary hissed to Adelaide.

* * *

The next morning, before she went bouncing down the stairs to tell Sirius how she had made up with Mary, Adelaide cautiously approached Marlene while the other two girls were in the restroom. She cleared her throat, but Marlene kept tying her tie as if Adelaide wasn't there.

"Um... Marls, I promise I won't tell anyone." she said quietly, fiddling with the strap of her book-bag.

Marlene looked up at her sharply, clearly on the defensive. "I know what you think but there's nothing to tell." she said in an emotionless voice. Then, as an afterthought she added, "It's never going to happen." And while she spoke the words to Adelaide, it seemed like she was saying them more to herself, as if she was trying to convince herself that it was true.

Adelaide sighed sadly and headed towards the door, stopping just before she walked out. "Never say never, Marls..."


	98. Chapter 98

**Chapter 98–Flora Fawley**

It was a drizzly Monday morning in late May when, right on cue, Sirius cursed loudly at a delivery owl disappearing into the rafters of the great hall with his bacon in its beak.

"Write that strongly worded letter yet, Pads?" Remus sniggered, narrowly dodging a sugar cube Sirius sent flying his way from across the table.

James laughed boisterously at Remus's side while leaning over the table to try to read the news paper in Adelaide's hands. "What's going on in the Wizarding World this week, Ads?" he asked with a lopsided grin, reaching to take some of her toast, but was thwarted by Sirius smacking his hand away.

Eyes firmly fixed on the text, Adelaide shrugged. "The usual. A few muggles terrorized—some bloke in the Auror department lost an ear—big feature on how the new minister's anti-Death Eater efforts are failing—"

"—Poor guy. Only been in office a month and they already hate him." Peter said sadly, taking a not-so-dainty slurp of his pumpkin juice.

"With good reason!" Sirius said passionately with his mouth full of half-chewed pancakes, slamming his fist on the table. "He was supposed to fix everything but now it's even shittier than it was before!"

James cleaned off his smudge glasses with his tie. "Only been a month though, Pads— can't expect him to end the war that quick—"

"We're at war?" Peter squeaked.

Remus sighed deeply, as if this was too much for him to dive into before he'd even finished his tea.

"—Ooo! A new shop is going in at Diagon Alley!" Adelaide said happily, clearly too engrossed with reading to hear the boys' heated political discussions. "It's going to be a witches fashion boutique!"

The boys didn't find this at all interesting and began throwing food at one another and laughing until some raspberry jam James was attempting to fling at Sirius, instead splattered itself on a snowy owl that suddenly landed on the table. Sirius moved his plate far out of reach, lest another feathered beast tried to eat his bacon.

The owl ruffled its feathers and screeched loudly in James's face making him wince, then turned to Adelaide, sticking out a foot for her to untie the letter attached.

Not wanting to get screeched at as well, Adelaide hastily released the letter from the bird's foot and sent it flying away, magentajam on its feathers clearly visible even as flew high into the rafters.

Initially, she thought the letter was from Emmeline Vance, but the stationary was much more expensive than anything the Auror-in-training had ever written on before. Next, she thought perhaps it was from Robert Selwyn, but his letters had all but ceased since Christmas, and the parchment itself was considerably more feminine than anything he would ever even dare to write on, with the silver ivy and flowers decorating the edges of the pale blue parchment. For a brief moment she feared it was from Beauxbatons, but was pulled away from this particular train of thought when Remus spoke.

"Who's the letter from?" he asked curiously.

Adelaide looked up at him briefly, then back down at the letter. "I dunno..."

"Well it might help if you open it." James sniggered.

Adelaide rolled her eyes and chuckled with the rest of them, breaking the silvery, shimmering wax seal and carefully unfolding the letter within.

Her eyes glossed over the actual contents down to the name signed at the bottom of the page and gasped slightly in surprise. "It's—it's from my aunt..."

"Your aunt? The one in Austria?" Sirius asked, trying to look over to read the letter, but she moved it out of view.

Adelaide shook her head. "No—I mean she does live in Austria—but that's not—this is a different aunt." she explained, still having a hard time wrapping her head around the fact that her mysterious Aunt Flora had written to her. Flora had always been one of her favorites amongst the Fawley's, but it had been _years_ since she'd heard from her. "It's from my Aunt _Flora_ —my dad's little sister—the one that lives in France... at least... I think that's where she lives..."

She frowned to herself. It had been ages since she'd even thought about Flora, much less heard of her news. Did she still live in France?

"Well, what's she want?" asked James.

"I didn't read that far..." she mumbled, picking up the letter again, this time to actually read the message.

While Adelaide stared with narrowed eyes at the letter, reading the loopy cursive words, James was momentarily distracted.

"Dammit..." he hissed, looking at the entrance of the great hall with the utmost disdain. "Effin' Benjy..."

Sirius swiveled around to see sixth year, Benjy Fenwick's tan face stretched into a proud smile, arm around the waist of a blushing Blair Wood just before he kissed her on the cheek. "Well safe to say it isn't him..." Sirius laughed whilst James sulked and sent a nasty look to a very smug Mary McDonald down the table.

In the month or so since James and Mary began their bet on the identity of Marlene's alleged 'Mystery Lad', the two had kept a rather close watch on the dating habits of Mr. Benjy Fenwick and Mr. Gaspard Shingleton, trying to tie them to Marlene in any fashion they could. It was a common occurrence for James to partner with Marlene during charms just to keep her from partnering with Gaspard instead, and Mary nearly hexed James out of spite when Benjy pulled Marlene aside one night in the common room— she later learned that he was only asking about Blair, the girl he really fancied, as was now obvious to the rest of the school.

"Oi! Stop smiling, McDonald! You still haven't won!" James hollered down the table.

"Stop being such a sore loser, Potter!" she laughed, sending a pointed look toward the Ravenclaw table.

Sirius watched Marlene, who was seated across from her, roll her eyes at their childishness then glance over at the Slytherin table where Regulus was seated next to Madge, Evan, and Madge's little brother Charlie.

Regulus was staring back at her with a small but goofy smile. Sirius made a mental note to tell him not to be so obvious.

"Hey, Ads... Do you think they've snogged yet?" Sirius whispered in her ear.

Adelaide looked up from her letter distractedly, blinking a few times as she tried to figure out what Sirius had just asked her.

"I asked if you thought Marls and Reg have snogged yet." he said even quieter, answering the question he knew she was about to ask.

She shook her head slightly. "He hasn't actually talked to her since April."

"But he sends her all that stuff..." Sirius trailed off, thinking of all the little gifts (or 'clues' as James and Mary referred to them) sent to her over the past month. It was mostly just little trinkets and cryptic notes, but they always made Marlene grin like an idiot. Furthermore, she hadn't been spotted snogging any other boys since before her birthday, which in his mind meant she had to be snogging Regulus instead.

"I know." she said with slight irritation that Sirius didn't think was fully born form the frustrating nature of their friends love lives. "He wants to keep his distance... but he also doesn't want her to go around snogging other boys again."

"Little selfish twerp..." Sirius muttered, stabbing his pancakes. "Doesn't have the balls to be with her— but doesn't want her with anyone else..."

"Well she's the same way—Keeps saying she won't date him— but nearly broke her quill when I mentioned how he and Madge were going to Hogsmeade together this weekend—"

"They're going to Hogsmeade together?!" Sirius asked too loudly.

"As 'friends'." she said pointedly.

Sirius smirked. "Yeah... _friends_... Bet you four sickles Farley fancies him—"

"What're you two whispering about?" James asked suspiciously.

"We were discussing how glorious your hair looks today, Prongs." Sirius answered without skipping a beat, winking.

James looked flattered for the half-second it took to realize Sirius was only joking, then rolled his eyes, laughing. "Yeah, yeah... try not to be too jealous." he said sending a wink back at him.

"So what was the letter about, Ads?" Remus asked.

Adelaide's face morphed into a look of slight apprehension. "Well... Nothing much... apparently my aunt's going to be in Hogsmeade on business this weekend and wants to... get together... Said she had some things she's been meaning to talk to me about and that it would be better to speak in person..." she shrugged.

Sirius's face hardened. "How do you even know it was really your aunt that sent the letter? You haven't heard from her in ages—"

"It's her." Adelaide said surely.

"Yeah, but how do you _know_ —"

"She still sends gifts at Christmas and birthdays— I know her handwriting. She writes her Y's the same as my dad." she explained.

Sirius wasn't convinced that this was a full proof method of determining someone's identity, nor was he at all trusting of this cryptic and secretive relation of hers. "Well I'm coming with you." he announced as if this was the end of the conversation.

"I don't need a guard dog!" Adelaide snapped.

"But, Addy—!"

"No! I will admit, this whole matter is a little... odd—"

"You can say that again..." James muttered under his breath.

Adelaide spared him an annoyed look. "Its odd— and I get why you're suspicious— but Flora's not going to hurt me, Pads. She's always been kind to me and—"

"But you haven't seen or heard from her in years!" Sirius fired back. "And now she wants to meet up with you out of no where? You're not the person she remembers— What if something happens—?"

"Addy... you know, he has a point..." Remus chimed in reluctantly.

"Yeah, I'm with Pads." James announced. "Might not be a bad thing to have someone else with you... just in case."

" _Just in case?_!" Adelaide repeated incredulously, laughing humorlessly. "On the off chance my aunt _does_ decide to hex me in the middle of tea, I can assure you that I'm fully capable of taking care of myself!" she snapped rather loudly, gaining some attention from nearby students. Mary gave a questioning look from down the table and Adelaide looked at her as if to say 'we will discuss this later'.

Sirius ran a hand through his hair. "Fine— But I want to at least meet the woman who's ruining our date."

Adelaide frowned slightly. This was going to be their last Hogsmeade weekend for the school year— their last real date before summer... "Okay... But it shouldn't take the whole day... We could still go to the music shop after." she said hopefully.

Sirius smiled sadly. On the off chance this really was her aunt and she really was as nice as Adelaide said she was, he didn't really want to ruin their reunion. He knew how important family was to her. "You haven't seen her in years, Ads. She'll probably want to make a whole day of it—" he said in a softer voice than before. Adelaide opened her mouth to protest but he reached for her hand and spoke before she could. "We'll do something else before school lets out. I promise."

Adelaide was still holding out hope that her aunt's trip would be brief, but nodded nonetheless.

"Right. So now that _that's_ settled— any new theories on Marlene's 'Mystery Lad'" James asked, clapping his hands together importantly.

Adelaide and Sirius merely rolled their eyes.

* * *

"Alright— How do I look?" Adelaide asked nervously, walking around in a circle to show off her outfit early that Saturday morning.

Mary, looking at her through the reflection of the full length mirror, tilted her head to the side, grimacing slightly. "Exceptionally Pureblood."

Adelaide frowned slightly, taking in her outfit: graceful, floor length emerald robes with silvery embroidered ponies on the long bell sleeves, and hair pinned into an elaborate updo that Cathryn Fawley would have been proud of. It was actually very pretty ensemble and brought out the green in her eyes to perfection, but it wasn't her— it wasn't Addy. She felt like a fraud.

"Mary I can't wear this. I don't care what she thinks. This just feels wrong." she sighed, shaking her head.

Mary had insisted that she try to wear something on the more 'traditional' side for her tea with Flora, worried (or paranoid, as Adelaide would describe it) like the boys that the mysterious woman might judge her harshly were she to know Adelaide's sympathetic views in regards to muggles. But in the end, it didn't matter how much traditional Wizarding garb she wore; Flora Fawley was going to find out that her only niece was a blood-traitor sooner or later and Adelaide would prefer to wear something more herself in the meantime.

Mary stepped closer, pulling the long skirt up, wand in hand. "No— look, we can just take up the hem so it's shorter and maybe do something with those stupid ponies on the sleeves— fix the neckline and—"

Adelaide shook her head and started taking out the pins in her hair, nearly-white locks falling down one by one in messy waves. "No... Mare, this is going to be awkward enough without me pretending to be something I'm not."

"But Addy what if—"

Adelaide kicked off the uncomfortable shoes her mother always loved seeing her wear while her hands freed the rest of her tresses. "She's not going to hex me in the middle of Madam Puddifoot's because I'm wearing a muggle outfit, Mare." she sighed. "Can you unzip me?"

Mary unzipped the back of the elegant emerald robes, brows furrowed in disapproval as she did so.

Adelaide breathed a sigh of relief at being freed from the cumbersome frock and quickly pulled her favorite lavender sundress from her wardrobe. Once changed, Adelaide looked back into the full length mirror, tugging her dress down in frustration. "Shorter than I remembered..."

"I think you grew." Mary assessed with a look of deep concentration.

"Well that's rather inconvenient." Adelaide grumbled, still pulling at the dress which reached her upper thighs.

Mary waved her wand muttering spell Adelaide had never heard and soon the fabric began to magically grow from the existing hemline, seamlessly weaving itself until it reached an acceptable length, at which point Mary waved her wand again, calling it to cease.

Adelaide smiled and turned to face her. "You're really good at that!" she said proudly. "Where'd you learn that spell?"

Mary shrugged. "Mum taught it to me that summer before third year when I went through that big growth spurt— Now come on, we're going to be late—"

"Wait! I'll walk with you!" Marlene called, walking out from the restroom, readjusting her intentionally short mustard yellow mini skirt and matching headband.

Mary smirked. "Well don't you look _nice_ — Got a hot date?"

Marlene rolled her eyes as she grabbed her purse. "If you count me hanging out with Finley Bell a date, then sure—"

Mary looked as if she had just had an epiphany. "I didn't even think to include girls..."

"Mare, we're going to be late!" Adelaide said, tugging her toward the dorm door.

"A Mystery _Gal_... oh I can't wait to tell James!" Mary grinned, running down the stairs without her, leaving Adelaide alone with Marlene.

"Ugh... doesn't she ever get tired of sticking her nose into other peoples business?" Marlene grumbled, stepping over the shoes Adelaide had just kicked off as she started toward the door.

Adelaide rolled her eyes. "She just wants to see you happy."

Marlene scoffed. "She _wants_ to win her bet with James— and _Gaspard_!? How could she _ever_ think I'd go for a bloke that smells like old cheese!?"

Adelaide stifled a giggle. Gaspard Shingleton _did_ smell a bit like aged Muenster. "Well not everyone is as _aromatically gifted_ as our little Reggie." she winked.

"He isn't _our_ anything!" Marlene snapped, nostrils flared.

Adelaide wanted so badly to tell her to stop being so stubborn and just date the poor boy, or at the very least admit that she fancied him, but she knew that tactic wouldn't work (or at least it didn't work that last three times she'd tried it). "Right—Should I tell him to stop sending you all those little gifts then? Have him stop sending you silly little notes?"

Something strange flashed in Marlene's sapphire eyes and she crossed her arms over her chest. "Tell him whatever you like— He's your friend not mine—"

"That's rubbish and you know it!" Adelaide snapped. "I know _for a fact_ that you lent him your favorite book! Seems like an awfully _friendly_ thing to do, Marls!"

Marlene glared at her. "He told you that, did he? What do you two do, get together and gossip about me like a couple of silly second years?!"

"No! I found the book in his bag when we were studying together!" Adelaide bristled. "He hardly even talks about you!"

Marlene rolled her eyes with a small derisive laugh. "My mistake—too busy talking about that snake girl of his—"

Adelaide groaned. This was _far_ too much to handle right before what was already sure to be a stressful family reunion. "Madge is his friend— just his friend— The only reason he's even going to Hogsmeade with her is so she wouldn't have to go with her bitchy dorm-mates! I _promise_ he doesn't fancy her!" she practically growled.

Marlene's eyes narrowed into an unwavering, analytical stare, and for a moment, a brief moment, Adelaide thought she looked almost hopeful. But the moment of brief hopefulness was quickly replaced by her trademark brand of guarded haughtiness. "I don't care who he fancies." she said shortly just before storming down the stairs in a huff.

* * *

Leaning back against Sirius as he rubbed her shoulders, Adelaide stared at the pink door to the frilly shop she'd sworn to loath and despise for always and eternity. "Why'd she have to pick Puddifoots?" she asked in a small desperate voice. "Of all the places... why here?"

A bark-like laugh rumbled from behind her as he rested his chin on the top of her head, likewise gazing at the horrible little tea shop. "It is terrible, isn't it." he laughed again.

Adelaide turned around to face him, stomach in knots. "I dunno if I can do this, Siri..." she said, shaking her head. He knew her anxiety had less to do with the less than ideal aesthetics of the frilly tea room, and more to do with the woman waiting for her within.

Two warm hands cupped her face and gently guided them to look up at him. "Addy, I'll have my mirror with me the whole time—I promise I won't let her hurt you—"

"I'm not worried about her hurting me!" she said with a hint of panic. "I'm worried about how awkward it's going to be!"

Sirius chuckled. "Good to know you have your priorities in order—"

"Sirius, this isn't funny!" she said looking up at him like a grumpy kitten.

"Addy, you're going to be fine." he smiled as he tucked her hair behind her ear.

Adelaide looked up at him with big searching green eyes, trying to believe him. "You sure?"

"Positive." he said confidently. He pressed a soft kiss to her forehead then glanced at his watch. "Oh— but you're also going to be late if we don't get going."

Not giving her a moment to change her mind, he twirled her around, grabbed her hand and began dragging her across High Street.

A tuneful twinkling bell announced their arrival when Sirius opened the pink door for Adelaide to enter. For a moment she stood dazed just inside the entrance, looking around at the steamy, crowded room of cramped round tables decorated with lacy napkins and china sugar bowls, walls covered in frills, pink bows, and tacky 'romantic' paintings. However, as grotesque as it looked, she had to admit it smelled rather appetizing. Freshly baked scones, macaroons, tea cakes, tea and coffee surrounded them and were enough to make even Sirius's mouth water. Had he been in dog form, she was sure he would have stolen a cupcake right off of a nearby table.

"LAIDY BUG!" cried a woman's voice.

Adelaide didn't even have time to process what was happening before she was nearly knocked breathless in an embrace, sputtering white-blonde hair out of her mouth. After a rather long hug, the woman backed away and looked at Adelaide with what could only be described as pure, unadulterated pride and admiration in her deep set blue eyes. Adelaide vaguely remembered what her aunt looked like, and knew she was quite a bit younger than her father, but she didn't realize she was going to be so breathtakingly beautiful. She looked like she'd just stepped out of a fashion magazine.

Flora was in her early thirties, (though she could pass for late twenties), had the same fair blonde hair as Adelaide and Filip, but had styled it in a very hip and flouncy muggle way; she didn't wear much make-up, but she honestly didn't need to, her naturally refined features where stunning enough; her clothes showed off her figure to perfection, but there was something peculiar about them. Adelaide was used to seeing muggle clothing and traditional wizard clothing—but Flora's style was a unique blend of both: denim of muggle trousers paired over stylishly tailored canary yellow robes. However, of all the things that made Flora Fawley shine, it was her smile that stole show. It was the same brilliantly bright, welcoming, infectious smile as Adelaide's.

"Just look at you!" Flora said in slight breathless awe. "Cathy said you were pretty—but you're downright _gorgeous_! And I love this dress on you!" she gushed.

Adelaide felt her cheeks heat up and a big grin permanently plaster itself on her face. "Thank you." she said shyly.

"Speaking of gorgeous..." Flora said in a stage whisper. "who's your friend?"

Adelaide beamed with pride, reaching out for Sirius's hand and lacing her fingers in his. "Aunt Flora, this is my boyfriend, Sirius Black!"

Recognition flashed upon Flora's features. "Ah! So _you're_ the one that's got that toad Cathy all cross!" she smirked. "It's lovely to finally meet you!"

Sirius laughed, shaking her hand. "Nice to meet you too!"

"Are you going to be joining us?" Flora asked hopefully.

Sirius looked down at Adelaide with an awkward smile. "Erm... well I was supposed to meet up with some of our other friends... we have erm...a thing to attend to..." he trailed off, thinking it more prudent to not mention how they were implementing a plan to mercilessly prank Severus Snape that morning. "I just wanted to make sure Addy found you alright."

Flora nodded in understanding, completely unfazed by his awkwardness. "Of course, of course! Well would you at least do me a favor and take some food with you before you go? I'm afraid I may have ordered a tad too much." she chuckled, gesturing to a secluded table in the corner that was filled to the max with scones, cakes, macaroons, and a variety of other tasty treats.

Sirius grinned, practically drooling. "I'd be happy to help!"

Once Sirius was off and out the door with enough treats to feed all the Marauders, Adelaide finally sat down with Flora, sipping on some coffee that was mostly sugar, unsure of what to say.

"Alright, so I've heard all the big things from your parents—you're a brilliant Quidditch Star with a knack for charms and herbology with a big, scary, crumpet loving boyfriend." Flora said with a slight smirk making Adelaide snort a laugh into her coffee. "But I'd like to hear about life from _your_ perspective."

Adelaide carefully placed her dainty cup down on its saucer, taking care to use her very best manners, then cleared her throat. "Well... I don't know if what they've told you is entirely accurate."

Flora raised a pale eyebrow. "Oh?"

Adelaide nodded gravely. "Well for one thing, Sirius prefers cakes to crumpets."

Flora laughed her bell-like laugh. "Well this is a _Sirius_ error on their part, isn't it?" she said, still smiling. "Are there any other inaccuracies I should be made aware of?"

Adelaide ran a hand through her hair, trying to figure out what there was to say. No, that wasn't the problem—there was plenty to tell about her life, which was what she was sure Flora was getting at, but as kind as the woman was, and easy as she was to be around and talk to, Adelaide didn't actually know her all that well. She didn't know what she would find offensive, what was too much to tell her, what she would find boring, and the last thing she wanted to do was make her aunt hate her right off the bat. So, she settled for a bland diplomatic approach instead.

"Well, not really. I do play Quidditch...and those are my favorite classes—but I hate potions, I dunno if they told you that part..."

Flora, who was listening with such intensity that Adelaide could hardly meet her eyes, nodded. "They may have mentioned something along those lines when I came to visit last week... Something about you blowing up a cauldron..."

"That wasn't my fault!" Adelaide yelped a little too loudly, earning her a few ugly looks from a group of nearby Ravenclaw girls. Adelaide sighed, and leaned over the tiny table. "You see that group of girls?" she said quietly, nodding discreetly to Lydia Green and her fellow fourth year Ravenclaws. Flora nodded. "They put something in my cauldron when I wasn't looking..."

Flora's blue eyes narrowed on the girls. "Why would they do that?"

Adelaide felt her heart beat a little quicker, wishing she hadn't said anything. "They—they um... well the redhead, Lydia, has a thing for Sirius." she shrugged, sitting back in her seat. "And she's not terribly fond of me dating him... Tried to give him a love potion at Valentine's Day, but our friend Peter ate it instead—apparently it was quite funny, but I missed the whole thing since I was stuck in the hospital—"

"Why were you in the hospital?" Flora asked in alarm.

"Oh... erm... I ate some sweets this Hufflepuff boy sent me and found out I'm allergic to walnuts..."

Flora's eyes grew wide and she swatted Adelaide's hand away when she reached for a sprinkled sugar cookie. "No—don't eat another thing! I didn't realize—they didn't tell me—" Flora raised her hand to bring the waitress over and asked her to clear the table and bring out a fresh batch of treats that were positively walnut free.

"But ma'am, I'll still have to charge you for the food you have..." the woman said nervously.

"I'll pay whatever I have to." Flora said crisply sending the woman running off before turning back to Adelaide. "Sorry about that... An abundance of caution—"

"You really didn't have to do that for me..." Adelaide said quietly, fiddling with the sleeve of her cardigan.

Flora shook her head, making her pretty platinum blond hair flounce. "I couldn't very well have you going into the hospital because of me! Your father would never let me get within two feet of you!" she laughed, setting Adelaide more at ease. "It was my mistake really, I should have known you'd be allergic too..."

Adelaide blinked. "What?"

Flora looked up with just a flash of panic, but quickly replaced it with a smile. "Nothing, just that allergies like that tend to run in the family. So, tell me about these friends of yours!" she smiled, resting her chin on her hand like an excited child.

Adelaide found her comment strange, especially considering that she'd never heard of any other family members with a tree nut allergy, but quickly brushed it off and began telling her all about her friends with a few minor changes (she told her that Lily was Mary's cousin and left out Remus's lycanthropy entirely). Flora seemed very pleased that she was friends with Slytherins, as expected, but seemed just as pleased about her other friends as well.

"... James and Mary are the real Quidditch fans— they can talk for ages about the most random things— Mary knows all the players and James knows all the strategy— If he didn't fancy Lily I'd say they were meant for each other!" Adelaide laughed.

Flora smiled. "I have to admit, I haven't been able to keep up with the league these days as busy as things have been— but I just finished designing the new robes for the Quiberon Quafflepunchers... I had to special order the pink fabric from Japan!"

Adelaide's jaw hung open. "You— you designed them?"

Flora seemed amused, but also unable to tell if Adelaide was joking or not. "Well, yes... Didn't your father tell you what I do for a living?"

Adelaide shook her head, still wrapping her head around the fact that her aunt designed the robes for the best Quidditch team in France.

"I'm a fashion designer." she explained kindly, to Adelaide's great awe. "I did freelance work for a long time— that's how I got the Quidditch gig— but I opened a witches fashion boutique in Paris a few years back. It's a blend of Muggle and Magical styles, which is probably why he wanted to keep it from you... He's never been all that supportive of the idea, understandably... But with most of the Wizarding population half-blood or less, there's a real market for clothing that reflects both cultures..." she said. Adelaide got the impression she'd made that speech many times. "Anyways, the shop is doing very well— I'm actually opening another in Diagon Alley next month—"

"That was you!" Adelaide said with wide eyes. "I read about it— I didn't know— that's bloody brilliant!" she exclaimed, cringing a moment later for cursing. "Sorry... most of my friends are boys..."

Flora laughed. "It's fine. I've heard my fair share of curse words, Laidy Bug!"

There was that name again, Adelaide thought to herself. The only time she'd ever heard someone refer to her that way was in her memories of Alex...

"The new shop is actually part of the reason I'm here." Flora continued. "There's a lovely old woman that lives around here who's an expert at embroidery charms—"

"But I thought you had to talk to me about something..." Adelaide blurted out before she could stop herself. In the days since she received her aunt's rather cryptic message, she'd come up with all sorts of outlandish theories for what she could possibly want.

"Ah, yes..." Flora said more awkwardly than she had the entire morning, folding her napkin. "We'll get to that a bit later... First, what do you say to some shopping?" she smiled.

Adelaide couldn't help but smile as well and soon they were out walking along the streets of Hogsmeade toward _Tomes and Scrolls_ , chatting about their mutual love of cats, when out of no where, Adelaide was nearly run over by a very sweaty James Potter.

"James! Bloody hell! Watch where you're going, you specky git!" she snapped, pushing the laughing boy away from her.

"Sorry! Didn't see you there, Tuffy!" he laughed, patting her head before looking around quickly, as if being followed. "Love to stay and chat but—"

"Prongs, you get back here right now—!" Sirius hollered from across the street, sporting some very pink hair, a matching bushy pink dog tail, and a glittering pink tutu for good measure. "—I want to look at you when I kill you!"

Adelaide burst out in a violent fit of laughs and hardly noticed when James hid behind her small frame, using her as a human shield. "Awe you don't want to kill me, Paddy—you'll never learn the secrets of my glorious hair!"

Sirius growled in anger like a dramatic poodle and began stomping towards them, completely ignoring a rather bemused Flora.

Remus ran up a moment later, hair a bright blue hue with a small blue cloud hovering over his head, raining glitter all over like sparkling dandruff. However, unlike Sirius, he seemed to find it quite funny, smiling wide despite his obvious pallor from the full moon only days away. "Oh lighten up, Padfoot! I think it's an improvement!"

Adelaide wiped away her tears of laughter and began looking around, waiting for the last of the boys, when Peter came running up from the alleyway, red faced, holding a stitch in his side, breathing heavily, and covered head to toe in green goo as if a troll had sneezed on him. "Good one—prongs!" he wheezed as he hobbled toward them.

"Laidy Bug... are these your friends?" Flora asked, failing to hide her apprehension for the rowdy boys that had now surrounded them.

Adelaide nodded, unable to speak through her laughs.

"Oi! You can't hide behind Addy forever you sorry excuse for a Gryffindor!" Sirius shouted.

"Hey!" James cried out in offense, standing up. "No need for insults—" He ducked behind Adelaide again when Sirius sent a spell whirling toward his head.

Remus at this point was standing by Adelaide, further shielding James. "He pranked us instead of Snape." he said with a smile, pointing to his glittering cloud. "Sirius is taking it the hardest..."

"You're damn right I am! This is a blazon violation of rule number eight of the Marauder's Code!" Sirius said furiously, pointing to his fuchsia hair.

"Actually... it's not..." Adelaide said, hiding her smile. "Rule number eight states that 'Mr Padfoot's Hair is off limits for any inter-marauder pranking, _unless_ Mr. Prongs says it's okay'—"

Sirius held his heart as if he'd been mortally wounded. "You're supposed to be on _my_ side, Addykins!"

James popped up behind Adelaide and threw a scone at Sirius's head when he wasn't looking, then ducked again.

"Did you just— did you really just throw a scone at me?" Sirius asked incredulously, dusting the pastry off his person.

" _He who is without sin shall cast the first scone_ —" James quoted.

Remus scrunched his blue eyebrows together. "You know that's not what it says, right—?"

"Are you Addy's aunt?" Peter asked, attempting to keep the green goop out of his droopy eyes as he approached the thoroughly rattled woman at Adelaide's side.

"Erm... Yes." she answered with a nervous laugh.

James stood up again, gesturing to the woman. "Oh look what you've done, Padfoot! You've scared Addy's aunt Florida—"

"Flora..." Adelaide corrected in a whisper.

James looked down at her. "That's what I said?"

" _I_ scared her?!" Sirius yelped shrilly, stomping closer, tutu bobbing slightly as he did so. " _You're_ the one she should be worried about, running around jinxing people for the hell of it!"

"What's a little jinxing between brothers, Padfoot?" James tried sheepishly, earning a growl from Sirius.

"Look, you know this has been thoroughly entertaining and I'd love to see how things play out... but we really need to be going..." Adelaide said, inching away from James.

"No! Addy you can't leave me alone with him!" James said desperately, grabbing her by the shoulders and cowering behind her once more. "Look at that tail! He's a _monster_!"

"I think the tutu is more frightening..." Peter muttered.

Remus sighed. "Let her go, Prongs... It's time to accept your fate." he said solemnly, putting a steady glittery hand on his shoulder before looking over to Flora. "Thank you very much for all the sweets Miss Fawley. I hope you and Addy have a lovely rest of the day together." he said politely.

Flora smiled warmly at the blue haired boy and Adelaide watched her eyes glint over the subtle scars on his face and arms, clearly visible in the sunlight.

"Right—well good luck, Moony!" Adelaide chirped, pulling Flora away by the hand toward the bookshop before James could protest.

A little bell rang as they entered the shop that smelled deliciously of old books. "Sorry about all that... they aren't usually _that_ obnoxious..." Adelaide said sheepishly.

Flora shook her head and smiled. "Don't be sorry! You were right— they _are_ quite entertaining." she chuckled, wandering over to some wizarding romance novels. "The blue haired one was very nice."

"Oh, yeah Remus is great! His hair isn't normally blue though..." she laughed, flipping through a book on Mediterranean aquatic life.

Flora smiled more to herself than at Adelaide, and looked a tad melancholy for a moment, but quickly switched gears and began pointing out all her favorite books and asking Adelaide an innumerable amount of questions about the types of books she enjoyed.

After purchasing three books at _Tomes and Scrolls_ (a romance novel, a book of construction charms (Adelaide was secretly plotting to build a greenhouse in her garden over the summer), and a book on the history of Saint Mungo's Hospital that Flora recommended), the two Fawley ladies continued on their way around the other shops of Hogsmeade, chatting and laughing until finally resting with a couple of butterbeers at the three broomsticks.

Adelaide sat in the wooden booth of the busy pub beside the many gifts Flora insisted upon buying her which, in addition to the books, included caramel popcorn and sour sugar quills from Honeydukes; a pack of singing tulip bulbs from _Dogweed and Deathcap_ ; a new dress and some socks with pictures of armadillos that rolled around when one would walk (Adelaide was very excited about these) from _Gladrags's Wizardwear_ , and finally a new cauldron (since she ruined her last one in class the week before) from _Ceridwen's Cauldrons_.

All in all, it had been a very nice day— much better than she could have ever expected. Flora was an excellent listener, and her easy-going kindness set everyone around her at ease. The fact that Adelaide was ever worried that things would be awkward was almost _laughable_ in retrospect— the fact that Mary and the boys were worried Flora would hurt her, even more so.

"You know... I've actually had a lot of fun today..." Adelaide said, realizing how odd it sounded after the words had already left her mouth.

But it was _odd_. She couldn't remember a time in all her life (apart from the fragmented bits of memories she'd recovered of Alex) where she'd had such a pleasant time with a relative. Flora was simply wonderful and actually made her feel like what she said mattered... which lead Adelaide to wonder what life might have been like had she been able to spend time with Flora more often when she was growing up.

Why hadn't her parents let her see Flora before now? A small current of anger and hurt ran through her when she realized that perhaps they had, but that the memories, like most of her time with Alex were obliviated from her mind. That's when it suddenly occurred to her that Flora might have known Alex... maybe there was more she could tell her about him... Adelaide had a thousand questions she could have asked, but every time she brought Alex up to her father he would get so sad, and the last things she wanted to do was spoil their perfect day.

"I've had a really lovely time with you, Laidy Bug." Flora sighed, with a small hint of sadness glinting in her eyes, folding her napkin daintily. "But I should probably tell you the real reason I came to visit..." she said more to herself than to Adelaide, as if she was giving herself a pep-talk.

Adelaide wasn't sure she liked the somber shift in her joyful aunt, and braced herself for the worst.

"Right... The real reason I needed to speak with you was to..." Flora paused for a long moment, folding and re-folding her napkin. Adelaide thought she was about to change her mind and start talking about her favorite knitting patterns again, but eventually she continued. "... was to ask if you'd maybe like to come stay with me over summer holidays."

That was the last thing Adelaide was expecting her to say.

"I understand if you wouldn't want to—we're only just reconnecting after so long— we really hardly know each other... and my home isn't nearly as nice as the manor... but I've talked to your father and I know things have been rather... _tense_... between you and your mother since... since _Christmas_..." she said, clearly referencing Cathryns psychotic break. "and well I've been living alone since I opened the shop in Paris and to be honest it's been quite lonely... I just thought since I got on so well with—" she cut herself off again with a slight look of panic, then continued as if she hadn't said anything. "... I just thought that perhaps it might be a good thing for both of us— mutually beneficial..."

Adelaide tried to process what her aunt was proposing. "You— you want me to live with you... over the summer..." she repeated slowly.

"Well technically for only _half_ the summer—I'd _love_ to have you sooner! But things are going to be a little hectic with the new shop opening up so you wouldn't be able to come until things get settled, probably around July..."

Adelaide nodded distractedly. Half the summer... If she stayed with her for half the summer that meant she would still have time to search the manor and find the family tree book... maybe even enough time to figure out what her mother was up to in that weird hidden room... Then she'd have the rest of the summer to live with Flora... kind, bubbly, smiley wonderful Flora who was practically sunshine incarnate...

"So, what do you think?" Flora asked, clearly nervous behind her smile. "There's no pressure... Again, I would completely understand if you'd rather—"

"I'd _love_ to live with you, Aunt Flora." Adelaide smiled.

Flora's face glowed in happiness. "Really?" she asked with a sort of childlike wonder.

Adelaide laughed and nodded. "Of course!"

Flora clapped her hands together, beaming. "Oh this is going to be so much fun! I'll need to repaint your room—your favorite color is still purple, right? I haven't really done much with the decorations since—" she stopped herself abruptly once again.

"Since what?" Adelaide asked curiously.

Flora's piercing blue eyes betrayed her with a look of panic once again despite her smile. " _Since_ I moved to London." she said quickly. "I've been traveling so much I just haven't had a chance to decorate."

Adelaide knew a lie when she heard one, and that was most certainly _not_ the truth, not the _whole_ truth at least. She wanted to let it go, she wanted to have a lovely afternoon gabbing about what colors they would paint her room and what things they would do while living in London... but there was something off about Flora... there was something she wasn't telling her.

"Aunt Flora... Why—why did you never come to visit before this?" she asked innocently. Flora looked visibly uncomfortable and began folding her napkin again and Adelaide felt a little guilty for putting her on the spot. "Sorry... It's just that I've— had literally the best day... and I just wish I could have seen you more... before this..."

Flora took a sip of her Butterbeer, probably to stall, then looked at Adelaide with a sad smile. "I really _really_ wanted to visit, Laidy Bug, but there were a lot of things that happened... and I just.. couldn't."

"Things... Like what happened with Alex?" Adelaide asked hesitantly.

Flora nodded, looking down at her napkin again. "Amongst other _things_... I— Well you're probably going to find out eventually, so I might as well tell you." (Adelaide held her breath) "I was married, right out of school. It was arranged, of course, and he was actually some distant cousin… hints the same surname... but he was a wonderful man and we were very much in love, but a few years into our marriage he became very very sick— Dragon pox… and he… well he didn't make it."

"I—I didn't know..." Adelaide stammered, once again regretting that she'd even brought up the subject. "I-I'm so sorry—"

Flora shook her head, white-blonde hair flouncing as she did so. "No, don't feel bad. There was no way you could have, you were only a toddler when he passed away." she said kindly. "But you have to understand that was a very dark time in my life... It was like everything around me was falling apart... And I didn't have the strength to rebuild when everything reminded me of him... so I just started over somewhere else... somewhere very far away. But now, I'm back and doing much better... especially now that the shop has blown up the way it has... But I know that I can't just pick things up where I left them, Laidy Bug... and I'm so sorry I wasn't there for you when you were growing up, not in the way I should have been..."

Adelaide had no idea that Flora, the woman who was so happy and kind, had been through so much. She couldn't even begin to imagine what it must have been like... marrying someone she loved so much and having him pass away so soon... Honestly, Adelaide thought she was handling it all with more grace than she ever could have. Here she was being selfish and wanting Flora to make her feel better, when Flora was the one hurting. Whatever Flora was hiding (and Adelaide was _sure_ there were things she was still hiding) it was probably best to keep them hidden for the time being.

"Well, you're here now and that's all that really matters." Adelaide shrugged with a smile.

Flora smiled back with twinkling blue eyes. "I'm glad you think so."

"So... do you have any embarrassing stories about my dad when he was younger?" she grinned, changing the subject.

Flora laughed, clearly relieved. "Oh, do I ever!"


	99. Chapter 99

**Chapter 99–Speaking of Secrets**

With a steadying breath, Flora Fawley stepped out of the familiar marble fireplace of her childhood home, dusted off her canary yellow robes, and braced herself for the judgmental look that was sure to be plastered onto Cathryn Carrow—no, wait—Cathryn _Fawley's_ face. They'd been married for ages, but Flora still had such trouble remembering that small little distinction. And no wonder, with the mocking sneer, etched into her once pretty, once _lovely_ features, Cathy looked exceptionally Carrow-like that evening.

Of course, if anyone was ever entitled to be a total toad, it would be her... after everything she'd been through...

Flora swallowed hard.

Being back in that house, back in the cool marble walls of Fawley manor was always difficult. She could almost hear Alexander's voice as he whined, begging Filip to let him hold 'Laidy Bug' while Cathryn gently swaddled the softly cooing infant in her arms. She could almost smell the gorgeous floral arrangements Cathy used to keep in an effort to give the place a homey warmth that had been lacking in her own childhood.

But those tender sibling moments had been effectively ripped out of existence; the flowers long gone.

All was quiet and cold now.

The once youthful, cheerful faces of Cathryn and Filip were now warn and sullen, as they peered back at her.

"Lovely to see you again, Flora..." Cathryn drawled, looking her up and down.

She had a rare talent, that woman. She could communicate her disdain much more effectively with a glare than words could ever articulate.

However, Flora chose to ignore Cathy's unspoken censure of her 'abominable' fashion choices as she absently exchanged the usual pleasantries, mind wandering back to her afternoon with Adelaide only a few hours prior.

She couldn't stop thinking about the way that sweet girl fiddled nervously with her sleeves whenever she'd say something too candid, how she'd shrink into herself, as if she wanted to disappear, when someone would look at her too long, and the faint flash of disbelief on her delicate features whenever she was complemented... Flora wondered how many disapproving looks, how many little scathing comments Cathryn had to have given the poor girl growing up to make her feel so incredibly self-conscious.

The thought alone made Flora want to hex that toad right on her bonny ars—

"How was your afternoon?" Filip asked, leading her toward the dinner table with a knowing look.

No matter how many years passed, Filip always seemed to know when his little sister was secretly plotting to hex someone.

"It was absolutely wonderful," she beamed.

And she meant it, too.

Truthfully, Flora didn't know _what_ to expect of the girl when she walked into the tea shop. The way Cathryn described her, one would have thought her as some beautiful rebel who wore a leather jacket to hide the chip on her shoulder and went around knocking over old lady's as they tried to cross the street—the way Filip spoke of her, one might have imagined she was a moody, tragic prodigy caught in the wrong crowd and prone to rash outbursts.

But in reality, Adelaide was nothing short of a delight. Kind, funny, smart, with a deep abiding love for her friends... and as if that wasn't enough, she was _gorgeous_ — the spitting image of her late grandmother...

"We chatted for a long while," she continued, taking a seat in one of the high backed chairs at the end of the table where Mimsy had already laid out their meals. "Then we walked around a few of the shops—I got her a new cauldron like you asked, Filip— as well as these socks that—"

"Did you discuss—" Cathryn blurted out before she could stop herself, cutting herself short when she realized how imprudent she must have come across.

"Yes, Cathy," Flora said kindly. "I did... She said she'd love to stay with me..."

Cathryn made a little disgusted noise and looked down her nose at the asparagus on her plate.

"But," Flora added, "I did get the impression she was looking forward to coming back home..."

Filip's eyes locked on hers as if he didn't think he'd heard her correctly, whilst Cathryn's fork paused from trying to scoot the green vegetables away from her fish.

"How so?" asked Filip.

Flora knew he was looking at her, but she found it much more interesting to watch Cathryn silently squirm in discomfort. "Well... she kept saying how excited she was to get back to her garden—talked the whole time we were in the herbology shop about greenhouses and those silly singing tulips— she's simply _obsessed_ with that book you sent her, Filip—"

Cathryn's head jerked up quickly, looking over to her husband with both a sharpness and a softness in those hazel eyes. "You—you sent her the book?" she asked in a small voice of disbelief. "The one on magical wild—"

"Magical wild-flowers, yes..." he confessed.

Cathryn merely looked at him for a moment, speechless, but not unhappy.

Flora raised an eyebrow at their odd little exchange. She did find it odd when Adelaide told her that Filip, the man who wouldn't know a flitterbloom from devils snare, had sent her a book on flowers... a subject that had always been _Cathryn's_ forte.

"I think she wants to build a greenhouse as well..." Flora added, curious what this tidbit of information would reveal. "Honestly, I feel sorry that she'll be cooped up in my flat this summer when she's got her own little forest to tend to over here!" she chuckled.

Cathryn almost smiled.

This was turning out to be a very odd dinner party indeed.

"She'll be with me in the ministry most days, regardless," said Filip before taking a bite of his fish.

" _What_?!"

He finished chewing before answering, which Flora found both annoying and passive-aggressive. "She'll be coming to the office with me four days out of the week—"

"Filip! You can't lock her up in that stuffy ol' office all summer!" Flora cried out indignantly, all formalities out the window at this point. That silly fuddy-duddy was not about to monopolize _her_ niece!

"She's going into her fifth year, Flora," he said in that patronizing tone that irked her so. "She'll be taking her O.W.L's this time next year—She needs to start thinking about her future—"

"—Her _future?_! She's _fourteen_ —!"

"—I've set up several internship options within the ministry for her to choose from," he continued, paying no mind to her incredulous interruptions. "She'll be much happier if she has a way to keep her mind occupied—"

"She's a _teenager_! She's in school for months on end—she'll be happier doing _nothing_ for a change!"

"Judging by her marks," Cathryn commented under her breath. "I'd say _nothing_ is what she's _been_ doing..."

Flora took a long sip of her wine in an effort to not snap at her brother's wife.

It didn't work.

"What's even the point of preparing her for a career she'll never _actually_ have?" Flora bit back before she could restrain herself, ignoring the way Cathryn's eyes narrowed on her and the ridged way Filip held his fork. "What's the point in getting her hopes up if you're just going to marry her off to some Pureblood brat the second she turns—"

"Her betrothal," Cathryn said, lip curled, "is still under negotiation, _dear_. Should things go... _sour_... she would be wise to have a way in which to support herself—"

Flora squeezed her fork so hard it was a wonder the silver didn't bend from the force of it.

 _Should things go sour..._ This was nothing but another thinly veiled dig at her own misfortunes.

"Oh, Cathy! Just say what you really mean for once in your damn life!" Flora spat. "You don't want her to end up like _me!_ That's it, isn't it? Should things go _sour_ , as you so eloquently put it, you don't want her running off and becoming a destitute disgrace, bringing scorn and scandal to the family name—!"

"Flora, mind your temper," Filip scolded.

" _Filip_! I'm a grown woman! I'll be as ill-tempered as I bloody well please! And I have every right to be—You have treated that girl— that _sweet_ girl _heinously_! You and your stupid wife— its a miracle she hasn't run away already—"

Cathryn's fork clattered to the table and her nostrils flared, hawklike gaze fiercely set on her.

"Don't give me that look! You and I both know what you've done! The horrors you've put her through—And I'm not talking about your mental break, _dear Cathy_ , I'm talking about the emotional number you've done on her self-esteem—"

Cathryn laughed humorlessly. "You have some nerve, Flora! You go galavanting off who knows where for _years_ , living off of _our_ gold, sullying _our_ name with that abomination of a shop, hardly show Adelaide _any_ attention until now— until _now_ , when you suddenly want to be a part of her life, to what? Live out some pathetic dream you have of having a child of your own? Until _now_ , when you suddenly have _all_ the answers!

"Well, I don't care what you _think_ you know—I will not sit here and listen to _you_ lecture _me_ on how I should parent _my_ child!" Cathryn seethed. "You know _nothing_ about what it means to be a parent! You know _nothing_ about the sacrifices that have to be made—what it means to protect them—prepare them for the real world!"

"Cathy... Please..." Filip quietly pleaded with his wife, clearly uncomfortable with the cat-fight breaking out.

"I KNOW MORE ABOUT BEING A PARENT THAN YOU WILL _EVER_ KNOW, YOU TOAD!" Flora roared, standing up from her chair, nearly knocking it over in her haste. "Filip, I'm sorry— the food is delicious, but I can't do this— I can't be here—" She moved towards the exit.

"Thank Merlin..." Cathryn sneered under her breath.

Oh, how Flora wanted to jinx the smug look off her stupid face.

"Let me at least walk you out..." Filip said tightly, rising from his own chair.

Cathryn stayed seated.

Well, so much for that dinner party.

The walk to the main fireplace was, as expected, tense and silent beyond the clacking of their shoes upon the marble floors. Flora knew she'd likely pay for her outburst in the long run... but she just couldn't sit and let that self-important old bat bully her anymore. She tried to remind herself that Cathryn's judgment was born out of ignorance... that it was second nature for her to grab hold and exploit weaknesses... but it didn't make her words sting any less.

When they reached the ornate fireplace, Flora took a few moments to collect her thoughts, staring at the family heirlooms: little equine figurines carved out of precious jewels and rubies, frozen mid-gallop upon the lavish marble mantelpiece. She found it odd how they looked just the same as they did when she was a child when everything else had changed so drastically.

Filip was the first to speak, words hushed, worried they would be overheard. "You can't let her get to you like that, Flora... She doesn't know about—"

"—I know, I know," Flora said quickly, impatiently. "I don't need the lecture... Cathy just pushes my buttons..."

Filip hesitated. "I really do appreciate you doing this for Adelaide..." he said softly. "I know it must be difficult... I'd understand if it was too much..."

"I'll be okay, Filip," she said, wishing he didn't see her as some weak little girl that needed protecting.

"Flora... You have to be careful what you say around her— Adelaide, I mean—She's smart... and an excellent liar— she picks up on the littlest things and almost always knows more than you think she does..."

"Filip... I'm not going to spill the beans... relax," she sighed once again, the busyness of the day finally catching up with her with a wave of fatigue.

He didn't look relieved.

Flora put her hands on his decidedly unrelaxed shoulders. "Fil, I promise I'm not going to tell Laidy Bug anything about—"

"You can't call her that!" he said quickly, eyes wide. "We stopped calling her that after the accident— she has no memory of it, Flora!"

Flora's heart skipped a beat.

They took away Alexander's nickname? She knew they took him out of Adelaide's memory... but her childhood nickname? Flora's heart broke at the thought of how _thoroughly_ they had erased any trace their son from their lives...

"Why?" she asked in a small voice.

He took a long time to answer. Minutes passed and lingered between them in the mist of unspoken thoughts and memories. "We had to..." he said at last. "The reminder would be too much... Cathy can't even bear to hear his name... It— It's a trigger of sorts... I believe it's part of what set her off at Christmas..."

Well, that was even more troubling. "Have you taken her to see someone— perhaps someone at Saint Mungo's—?"

Filip pursed his lips in irritation. "She's not mental, Flora... not in the way you're getting at..."

Flora raised her pale eyebrows in suspicion. "I'm just saying that... that with everything that's happened... it might be good to... you know, make sure everything's still in working order up there..."

Filip rolled his eyes, apparently finding this idea trivial. "We'll see you next week, Flora," he said, changing the subject.

Just the thought of another dinner party with his _dearest Cathy_ made her want to smash one of the pretty horse figurines on the mantel into smithereens. But that would be rude to her late mother. She always liked those particular figurines.

"Right, I'll see you then..." she mumbled, lumbering toward the fireplace when suddenly she remembered something. "Oh! Filip! I met that boyfriend of Laid— of _Adelaide's."_

He raised his eyebrows in slight interest. "And?"

" _And_...I think you're in great danger of breaking her heart should you pick anyone else..." she said with a sad smile.

"You might be right... But, it's out of my hands..." he sighed.

Unsure of his meaning, she furrowed her brows. "It's _entirely_ in your hands... that's the whole point of an arranged marriage, Filip."

"It's a complicated process, Flora," he began, a weariness falling over him that she found a little disproportionate to the topic at hand. "There are many things that have to be taken into consideration when planning a union… There's more in play than just her happiness..."

"I get it... I get it..." she said, really not getting it at all but being too tired to pick his brain at the present. "I'm just saying, as your observant little sister, that your sweet daughter would be happier with Sirius..." She stepped into the fireplace at long last. "And besides that, think of how cute your grandkids would be..." she smirked.

Filip let out a rare chuckle. "I'll see you next week, Flora."

"See you next week, Fil."

* * *

"Maybe she's a Veela—" Sirius suggested, narrowly dodging a low hanging spiderweb.

"Sirius, for the last time, I'm not a Veela—"

A smug smile stretched itself across his face. "Ah ah, Addykins... I didn't say _you_ were a Veela—"

"Flora isn't a Veela either," she said shortly, grabbing hold of his arm to keep from tripping over a tree root. "Can you please explain why we have to meet this idiot way out in the middle of the forest? Are there no sketchy dark corners of the castle we could have met up in instead—"

"I suggested that..." Sirius said, brows furrowed. "But they _insisted_ on meeting outside of school... apparently it's a liability... But this is more fun anyways! It's like going on an adventure!"

Adelaide grumbled under her breath. His adventure was getting mud in her shoes.

"Maybe Flora secretly has a kid who—"

"She doesn't have any kids, Sirius," Adelaide sighed, regretting that she ever confided to him about Flora's suspicious behavior.

In the week since the last Hogsmeade trip, Sirius had taken it upon himself to uncover the hidden secrets of Flora Fawley's past. However, much to Adelaide's dismay, his theories for what big secret Flora could have possibly been hiding had only gotten more and more ridiculous.

On Sunday, during their make up date (a picnic where they fed charmed ducks down at the Black Lake), he wondered if she was secretly Adelaide's long-lost sister.

On Monday, while they waited to see Remus in the hospital after the full moon, he briefly speculated if her cousin-husband could have been a werewolf.

On Tuesday, after History of Magic, he suggested that perhaps the clothes at her shops were made using Siren Silk, or some other illegal fabric.

On Wednesday, after a well-executed prank on Avery and his goons where they turned their belongings into various farm animals, he mused that she was actually working deep undercover for the Auror Department as a hit-witch.

On Thursday evening, as they walked to detention for the prank they pulled on Wednesday, he pondered if Flora was making clothes for the wizard mafia on the side (despite the fact that there was no wizard mafia to Adelaide's knowledge).

On Friday during their mock dual in Defense Against the Dark Arts, just before he made Adelaide sprout antlers and start dancing an Irish jig, Sirius got it in his head that Flora was on the run after robbing muggle banks in America.

And this Saturday afternoon, as they hiked through the forbidden forest to meet up with a Ravenclaw who specialized in dealing slightly illegal potions, Sirius was apparently convinced that Flora Fawley was a Veela with a secret child.

It was exhausting.

"She doesn't have any kids _that you know of_ ," he said in a know-it-all fashion, elegantly shaking his newly cut hair out of his eyes. "That's why it would be a _secret_ kid."

Adelaide rolled her eyes. "Oh, let me guess... her and her _secret_ child just recently moved back to earth after staying on the moon for a few years?"

"No... That would be ridiculous..." he said seriously, offering her a hand as she tried to climb over a large tree trunk that had fallen, blocking their path. "But you still haven't asked the important question..."

"Which is what?" she asked shortly, foot slipping as she tried to climb up, thankful for Sirius's help.

"Which is why she would have to keep the kid a secret in the first place," he smirked as she stumbled ungracefully forward, right into his chest.

Adelaide regained her footing but opted to hold his hand lest she trip again as they traveled further into the treacherous woods. "Go on then... why's the kid a secret..." she sighed.

He looked far too smug and graceful as he strolled beside her. "Alright, so imagine this— She's married to her cousin-husband... They're in love and everything's going great— then BAM! She get's preggers, as married people do— the only problem is... that with all the inbreeding, the kid ends up being a _squib_!" (He made an exaggerated face of mock surprise that prompted Adelaide to giggle) "So once her cousin-husband figures this out, he either dies from the shock of it all, or actually get's sick, or just moves out of the country from the shame—who knows— but then there's poor Flora, left all alone with her little squib kid— and _obviously_ she can't just give the kid up because, you know, she's a decent human being unlike the rest of your family— but she can't actually go out telling the world that she's got a squib for a kid... so she moves away!"

"To the moon?" Adelaide teased.

"No! Addy, come on, be sensible— you can't take _babies_ to the moon! She had to have taken the kid out of the country— like to France or Australia or... or... or I dunno— Sweden or something."

Adelaide held in a giggle. "So, where's this squib kid now? They couldn't have been much older than me—surely she'd still have them around..."

Sirius smiled as if he expected her to say this. " _That_ is the interesting bit! So she's got this squib kid she's raised in Canada or India or—"

"—The moon—"

" _Not_ the moon—and she has to send it to muggle boarding school... but she can't afford it—"

"Because the Wizard mafia isn't paying her enough—" Adelaide supplied airily.

"Exactly! And so she comes home and asks your dad for money, 'cause your parents are loaded—only to find out... that the kid's actually magical after all!" he exclaimed.

Adelaide raised her eyebrows in genuine surprise.

"But now she's got this not-squib kid who feels all cheated out of having a normal life—growing up on the run and robbing banks for money, you know—and so they _run away_!"

"Run away?"

"Yes! They run away from home—but Flora's too extroverted to be alone—so she hits up your dad and asks if she can hang out with you since your parents suck anyway and now here we are!"

Adelaide laughed. "Padfoot, you should write a book—this sounds like one of those mystery novels Mary reads!"

Sirius glared at her out of the corner of his eye, yet his mouth was almost smiling which made the look far less intimidating. "Maybe I will... Can you imagine the look on my dad's face if he thought I wanted to grow up to be an author?" he grinned.

"No, but I just know what ol' Walburgy would say!" she laughed. "' _Sirius Orion Black the third! You, shame of my flesh! Writer of novels! How dare you befoul the great house of my fathers with your touching tales of heroic escapades! How dare you bring happiness and joy to the world through that scornful medium!_ '" Adelaide said in a terrifyingly accurate impression of Walburga Black.

"Pretty good impression, Ads," he said airily. "But you forgot the bit about me being a 'lousy disappointment' and 'why I couldn't be more like Regulus'."

Adelaide examined him carefully as they walked; His face was light, smiling, making it seem as if the whole matter amused him... but his eyes? They betrayed him. Something in those grey eyes darkened and Adelaide could tell that beneath his jokes and dogged insistence that he couldn't care less what his mother thought of him... a small part of him _did_ care—And worse... a small part of him _believed_ the things she said...

"You're not a disappointment, you know..." Adelaide said after a brief pause.

"I know that—"

"Sirius," she said, stopping and looking at him quite solemnly. "I mean it."

He looked down at her once more, face younger than she had seen in a long time; a hopeful spark momentarily replacing the melancholy darkness in his eyes. "Thanks, Ads," he said quietly, giving her hand a small squeeze.

After ten minutes or so, they finally approached the rendezvous spot: a large boulder with an odd, hand-sized, carved drawing that resembled a triangular eye.

"So... what exactly is this potion supposed to do?" Adelaide asked, tracing her fingers over the strange symbol within the stone.

"It's Polyjuice Potion," Sirius explained, checking his watch with a frown.

"Yeah, but what does this _Poly-whatever_ potion do that makes it so sketchy?"

Sirius turned to face her with a faint look of disbelief. "Do you _really_ not know what it does?"

Adelaide looked up at him. "Sirius, I'm nearly failing potions and I blew up my damn cauldron during class a few weeks ago— do I really strike you as the kind of girl that would know what some obscure potion does?"

Sirius's mouth quirked up at the corner... He always found it amusing how terrible she could be at potions when she was brilliant at everything else. "Well, it wasn't _your_ fault the cauldron blew up... but I see your point..." he said, stifling a laugh. "Alright, if you drink it, it gives you the ability to take the form of someone else."

Adelaide blinked. This seemed like something he would have been better off brewing himself... and in large batches... Her mind was spinning with ideas at the kind of glorious pranks they could get away with if they had more of that stuff... "And why couldn't you just brew it yourself?"

"Because, besides the fact that you need a bunch of really rare ingredients, it takes at least a month to do it properly—and I need to get my revenge on James before final exams," he shrugged. "Just easier to buy it off of someone else..."

Adelaide nodded, this seemed like a logical point to her... but there was still something she didn't understand... "So, why did I have to come with you?"

"Erm..." The tips of Sirius's ears turned red. "Well, you didn't really... I just wanted a reason to hang out with you..."

A grin found it's way to her lips and she was just about to either kiss him or make fun of him for being such a sap (she hadn't quite decided yet) when—

"That's rather romantic..." a new voice said, making Adelaide jump in surprise.

The girl now standing beside them and the strange boulder, must have been only a year or so older than them... and gave off an aura of distinct dottiness. She had stuck her wand behind her left ear for safekeeping, had a large number of random flowers and leaves stuck in her long, dirty-blonde hair, and her protuberant eyes stared at them in a far off, dreamy way that made Adelaide wonder if she had taken some muggle drugs, like the ones Jack Middleton accidentally baked into some brownies once.

"Hey, Pandora," Sirius said casually, clearly not as wary of the odd girl as Adelaide was.

"You're Adelaide Fawley," Pandora said, looking at Adelaide.

"Uh... yeah..." Adelaide replied with a nervous laugh.

"So, I've got your money all here—" Sirius began, pulling a little satchel of jingling coins out of his jean pocket.

Pandora's pale eyes were still on Adelaide. "I've heard you're quite good at charms," she stated calmly. "I've been working on creating some new ones myself... Have you ever tried?"

Adelaide blinked. "Uh... well... y-yeah, I have actually..."

Sirius looked down at Adelaide, surprised by this new information. "You have?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Adelaide was highly uncomfortable... though she couldn't quite pinpoint as to why. Perhaps it was because they were out in the middle of the forbidden forest to purchase black-market potions, maybe it was because they were talking about her creating some semi-illegal spell, or maybe it was just the permanently surprised look on Pandora's face that made her uneasy.

"Um... Lily's been teaching me... It's a spell... well a hex, technically... that causes the victim's wand to produce... erm... ducks... whenever a spell is cast..."

Sirius let out a laugh and said something about how that was 'brilliant' and how 'he should have known', but Pandora laughed loudly, _obnoxiously_.

"Ducks!" she said, nearly doubled over in hysterics. "Oh, my Merlin! That's a very funny spell, Adelaide Fawley!" she wheezed through her guffaw. " _Ducks_! You'll have to—teach it— to me!"

Adelaide smiled awkwardly. "Erm... sure thing..."

Once Pandora had finally calmed down (which took a rather long time), they were able to get back to business. Sirius gave Pandora three galleons and she handed him an oddly shaped container of what looked like thick, dark, slowly bubbling mud.

"Oh, I don't think it's worth that much," she said, calmly handing him a galleon back. "This batch wasn't very good, only lasts ten to thirty minutes..."

"I mean, that's plenty of time... and it still must've been difficult to make..." Sirius said, trying to hand the coin back to her.

"It was, but it's not worth that much, Sirius Black," she said with a small smile.

Adelaide was puzzled by this odd girl and dearly hoped Sirius would just let the matter go.

"You sure?" he asked, brows furrowed.

Pandora nodded and her pale eyes drifted up above to a little patch of sky as if she was watching an invisible bird fly overhead.

"Alright, if you say so..." he shrugged, pocketing the potion and the coin. "You want to walk with us back to the castle?"

Pandora, who was still looking up at the empty sky, shook her head. "That's very polite of you to offer, Sirius Black... but no... I'm going to watch them for a while... they're quite beautiful, you know..." she said dreamily.

"Right..." Adelaide said slowly, grabbing hold of Sirius's sleeve. "Well... hope you have fun with... that... Pads, we should really get going..."

Sirius was looking up at the sky as well now, clearly confused, and clearly about to ask Pandora what she meant when Adelaide yanked on his arm with an impatient look as if to say 'let's go.'

He spared one more confused glance up at the sky, then to Pandora and said goodbye once more before walking back to the castle with Adelaide.

Once they were well out of earshot, Adelaide rounded to Sirius. "Do you _actually_ trust her potion-making skills?" she asked with a frown.

"Well, yeah," Sirius chuckled, casually pulling her away from a spiderweb she was about to run into. "She's making an O in Potions... and it's not like it's her first go around," he shrugged. "Davey Gudgeon's the one that told me about her— said she made some for him last semester."

" _Davey_?" Adelaide asked incredulously. "What on earth did Davey Gudgeon use Poly Potion for?"

"Poly _juice_ Potion," he corrected with a smirk. "And it was something to do with him not getting his Hogsmeade form signed..."

Adelaide carefully stepped around what looked suspiciously of centaur poo. "And so? Did it work?"

Sirius ran a hand through his hair, chuckling. "Oh it worked alright... Problem was, that he got the wrong hair—"

"The wrong... _hair_?" Adelaide asked, nose wrinkling in disgust.

"Yeah, you have to add in the hair or something of the person you're going to turn into before it'll work—" He ducked under a low hanging branch that Adelaide walked below with ease. "Anyways, he was _trying_ to turn into his grandmother to convince Professor Sprout to let him go— It was actually a pretty good plan considering it was Davey that came up with it— he transfigured his clothes beforehand and everything— even borrowed Erin McDougal's cat— but when he drank it... he— he turned into—" Sirius could hardly get the words out for laughing so hard. "Dumbledore! He transformed into _Dumbledore,_ dressed in some old lady's clothes with this random girl's cat— but Davey, being an idiot, he didn't even realize it! And so he went strutting up to Professor Sprout—big white beard and all, trying to convince her that he should be allowed to go to Hogsmeade— _While she was talking to the real Dumbledore!_ "

He finally dissolved into uncontrollable guffaw reminiscent of Pandora the Potion Peddler's. Though the story _was_ quite funny, Adelaide found Sirius's reaction even more amusing; he was laughing so hard that he accidentally snorted and nearly walked headfirst into a tree.

" _How_? How does that even happen?!" she laughed leading her boyfriend away from said tree. "How do you _accidentally_ get a Dumbledore hair?"

Eventually, Sirius calmed his chuckles enough to answer. " _Apparently_ , his grandmother and Dumbledore are in a knitting club together. So, when he grabbed a white hair he found in her knitting basket, he just assumed it was hers..."

Somehow, Dumbledore being in a knitting club made perfect sense to Adelaide. "Of course..." she said, shaking her head slowly. "So who are you planning to turn poor Prongs into? Dumbledore as well?"

Sirius shook his head with a grin, eyes alight with mischief. "Nah, he'd enjoy that too much..."

"Then who?" Adelaide wiped her glistening forehead with the back of her hand— hiking was almost as tiring as running. "I swear if you turn him into yourself, Pads—"

"No— no, that's not a bad idea— but he'd enjoy that too much as well— probably end up embarrassing me; telling the whole school I secretly jam out to disco music or something—"

"But you _do_ secretly jam out to disco music..." Adelaide smirked, thinking back to the time a few weeks prior when she had walked into the boys' dorm to make sure James wasn't stalking Marlene on the map... only to find Sirius alone and dancing wildly to _Get Down Tonight_ By KC and the Sunshine Band.

"But the whole school doesn't need to know that, Ads!" Sirius said quickly.

"Oh, I think they do!" she laughed. "It was quite the show! Dance moves like that shouldn't be hidden away, Pads!"

Sirius rolled his eyes, smiling and trying to not laugh, with just a hint of pride evident as he puffed out his chest.

"So, if you're not turning him into Dumbles or yourself— who _are_ you going to turn him into?"

Sirius looked down at her with a deliciously evil grin. " _That_ , my dear Addykins, is a secret..."

She rolled her eyes. "Of course it is..."

"Speaking of secrets..." Sirius said seriously. "Do we think there's a possibility that Flora could owe money to some Goblins?"

Adelaide groaned then tripped over a tree root.

* * *

It had been several days since her little adventure with Sirius, and whilst he was off getting the last ingredient for his prank revenge, Adelaide had joined Madge after classes in an attempt to revise for her final exams. She told the Slytherin she was up for studying anywhere that wasn't the library... but this was before she knew about the heat wave that was apparently upon them.

"Tell me again why we're studying outside when it's this damn hot?" Adelaide asked, fanning her sweaty self with the half-legible History of Magic notes she'd copied from Lily, parchment hitting the brim of her large straw sunhat with every small, wonderful, gust of air.

The dark haired Slytherin didn't even bother to open her eyes, laying back on the large tartan patterned blanket she had spread out along a grassy bank by the Black Lake, basking in the June sunshine like a happy house cat. "Because we're going swimming after we're done," she answered easily before scratching her leg, just above her right knee.

"I'm _not_ swimming," Adelaide said much too quickly.

"Scared?" Madge smirked, finally opening her sea-blue eyes.

Adelaide's fanning faltered for a half a second. "N-no. I just don't want to—"

"Bullshit."

"Excuse me?"

Madge hoisted herself up into a sitting position and rolled her eyes. "You poor little Purebloods are all the same..." she tutted. "It's just water, Fawley. If you're worried about not knowing how to swim there's—"

"Oi! How do you know I can't swim?! I could be an excellent swimmer for all you know!"

Madge raised one of her dark eyebrows. "Are you?"

Adelaide cursed internally, paused her fanning, and glanced down at her notes. "Name the leader of the 18th century goblin rebellion who—"

Madge flung herself back down in a rather dramatic fashion. "Ugh! Addy, please! Stop with the torture! How many times to have to tell you— I don't bloody care about History of sodding Magic!"

"But the goblin wars are actually quite—"

"If you go on about how fascinating those stupid goblin wars are one more bloody time, I swear to God I'm going to throw you in the lake," Madge said, sitting up slightly, absently scratching her leg once more.

"You wouldn't!" Adelaide exclaimed, scandalized and slightly rattled having been flung into the lake once before. Though, she supposed Madge was the most keenly apt to save her should she drown again... Even if none of her theories had been explicitly proven right, the more time she spent with the swimming obsessed Slytherin, the more obvious it became that there was something she was trying to keep secret... something... _fishy_.

Madge stared at her for a tense moment then laid back down on the grass. "Ugh! Fine— I wouldn't—"

Adelaide chuckled.

"But I'd want to!" Madge said, waggling her finger 'intimidatingly'.

"Yeah, yeah—calm down, Snakey!" she laughed, dodging the Slytherin's attempt to thwack her for her irritating new nickname.

After a few more (failed) attempts to get Madge to partake in studying History of Magic, their conversation turned to decidedly more interesting subjects.

"So, you never told me how your date with Reggie went..." Adelaide smirked.

Madge let out a scoff-like laugh. "Definitely _not_ a date—but it was fine." she shrugged. "Got me out of dress shopping with Cleo, at least. I'd rather listen to Reg drone on about Auguries and Diricawls all day than hear her gush about trying to impress Avery at some uppity gala thing again—"

"Wait—Cleo Greengrass fancies Avery?!" Adelaide cried out incredulously.

" _Oh_ yeah," Madge said with emphasis. "She's fancied him for _ages_ —"

"Avery—Michael Avery? The human personification of a headache Avery?"

Madge laughed, scratching her leg once more—Adelaide wondered if she got a bug bite or something. "I know— _believe me_ , I've tried to talk some sense into her, but she's just a lost cause... blinded by love... or stupidity... hard to tell with her..."

Adelaide missed what Madge said next, too confused as to how a pompous egotistical git like him could have any admirers. Cleo was a nice enough girl, as far as pureblood snobs went, much too nice to ever fancy a sociopath like Avery.

"...especially since everyone knows he fancies you."

"Everyone knows who fancies me?" Adelaide asked stupidly.

"You're a terrible listener, you know that?" Madge laughed. "I was talking about Avery's obvious obsession with you."

Adelaide rolled her eyes. "He's just bitter because he thinks I'm 'The Dark Lords Darling'or something ridiculous—"

"I mean... yeah—but I'm pretty sure he actually fancies you as well," Madge said more seriously to Adelaide's great disgust. It's something she sort of suspected given his aggressive advances at the gala over the summer, but it still made her feel a bit squeamish if she thought about it too hard. "Though he might change his mind if he ever sees you wearing that ridiculous hat..." Madge smirked, finger flicking the brim.

Adelaide scowled, hands reaching for her floppy sunhat protectively. "Oi, don't hate on the hat, it's the only thing keeping me from burning to a complete crisp out here." _Well, the hat and the sun protection potions she lathered on before she even left the bathroom that morning._

"Oh, heaven forbid poor Addy gets a tan," Madge lamented, voice dripping in sarcasm.

"I don't tan," Adelaide retorted. "I burn, then I freckle."

Madge narrowed her sea-blue eyes and inspected Adelaide's face like she was a specimen in their Care of Magical Creatures class. "I don't see any freckles..."

"Yeah, thanks to the hat!" Adelaide pointed to said hat in exasperation.

Madge raised her hand to her chin with a look of mock thoughtfulness. "You know... if I didn't know any better, I'd say you had something _against_ freckles, Fawley..." she said with an overt air of suspicion, her own freckles upon her olive skin clearly visible in the sunlight.

Adelaide laughed. "Oh yes, I have no problem with Muggles or werewolves—but freckles? That's where I draw the line!"

Madge laughed loudly, but Adelaide sighed, thinking back to her own mother's many lectures growing up on the importance of proper skin care, about how upset she would get whenever she'd get sunburnt staying out in the garden too long. It was just one of those things—one of those odd little bits of her upbringing that seemed so normal to her until she thought about it too hard. "...My mum would have an absolute fit if I came home with freckles..." she muttered mostly to herself, but it was not lost on her Slytherin companion.

"I'd like to meet your mother," Madge said with an unreadable expression.

"Why?"

"So I can tell her to her face what a bitch she is," Madge said unflinchingly.

Adelaide had a feeling she wasn't kidding but laughed anyways. "Yeah, well... I already beat you to it..." she trailed off.

Without warning, Adelaide's mind rushed back to her arrival home for winter holidays—Memories so fresh and vivid in her mind's eye that it was almost as if she was there... living it all again—the terror, the rising furious rage of their fight—her mother's anger—her slender figure looming over her as she lifted her wand— the way the walls shook from her cold voice as she said that word— that horrific curse that brought pain—unimaginable, torturous, raw agony to every nerve in her body—making her writhe on the cold granite floors of the atrium— over and over again—begging—pleading for it to stop through her sobs—

"Addy—Addy, you're shaking! Are you alright?" Madge asked in concern.

Her heart was pounding, she couldn't breathe, her chest was in pain, and she felt like she was going to die right there in her silly sun hat by the black lake from mere memory of it all. "'m fine." Adelaide managed to mumble with her eyes closed, trying to catch her breath and steady her trembling hands.

As excited as she was for exams to be over, for the fun she would have spending time with Flora, and for the answers she might get once she found the family tree book, every day that passed was yet another day closer to having to face her mother.

Adelaide tried so hard to assure everyone (including herself) that she would be fine, that she was confident that her father would keep her safe... but on the inside, she was nothing short of terrified.

In her darkest moments, Adelaide didn't know how she was going to manage the train ride back, much less how she would get through half a summer under the same roof as the woman who starred in all her nightmares (which had become much more frequent and intense in recent weeks).

But she had to.

She had to go home. She had to be brave. She couldn't— _wouldn't_ give Cathryn Fawley the satisfaction of knowing how thoroughly she had broken her.

"I'm fine..." she said, this time with more conviction.

Madge didn't believe her. "It's the heat, isn't it? Here, we can go back in—I was never going to make you swim—I just thought you liked being outside—" she said as she began to gather their things, flicking her wand, commanding the tartan blanket to fold itself and the books to flutter into their respective bags.

"No—Madge, I'm fine—really. We still have to get through potions—"

"We can revise poison antidotes inside just as well as we can out here—Now, come on."

Adelaide felt exhausted, nauseated, shaky all over, and wasn't sure how steady she'd be walking... but she also couldn't pass up an excuse to get back to the cool castle. It was very hot out, after all.

"Fine..." she grumbled, "but I'm not going to the library."

With considerable help from Madge, Adelaide finally hobbled into the Great Hall and landed into an empty seat at one of the long tables inhabited by half-crazed students cramming last minute for their own exams.

Madge made Adelaide drink not one, but _three_ cups of water, claiming that her ailments probably stemmed from dehydration, then pulled out a little drawstring bag that Adelaide found rather familiar.

"Here. Take one of these," she said, reaching across the table and placing a small green cube in Adelaide's hand.

"Why? What is it?" she asked, knowing full well what it was from her time snooping as Floofs the cat.

"Its a Kelp Lozenge. They help with dehydration."

Dehydration...?

Adelaide looked down at the weird little Kelpy cube, then asked in what she hoped was a casual tone, "And you just so happen to have one of these on your person, _why_ exactly?"

Madge stiffened slightly. "I have a tendency to get dehydrated. Medical condition," she said in a very rehearsed manner. "Now, eat that and open up your potions book; we've got four more chapters to get through before dinner." she said, tapping the book in front of Adelaide impatiently.

Adelaide did as she was told and the two actually got some decent revision done... for a while at least.

Two hours in, Adelaide finally laid her head on the open book in defeat. "Can't—study—brain—too—tired..." she mumbled melodramatically.

"Yeah, I need a break too," Madge sighed... and again she itched her leg.

"Did you get bitten by something down at the lake?" Adelaide asked, lifting herself up.

Madge looked at her blankly. "Huh?"

"You keep itching your leg," Adelaide stated.

Madge blinked, then slowly looked down at her leg. Her sea-blue eyes went a little wide and she gulped... looking more scared than Adelaide had ever seen her. "Erm... n-no... just a rash..." she said, again in a very rehearsed manner, readjusting her clothes and popping one of the little kelp cubes in her mouth.

Adelaide didn't know what to make of her odd behavior... but knew that were it her, she wouldn't want someone drawing attention to it. "Oh... alright..." she said, trying to act as if it was no big deal. "So, I finally wrote my dad back about that internship," she said, changing the subject.

Madge was visibly relieved. "What'd you end up picking? Department of Mysteries?" she asked.

Adelaide shook her head. "Nah, maybe next year—I picked the one with the Auror Office."

"I thought you didn't want to be an auror?" Madge said, brows furrowed.

"Oh, I don't!" Adelaide said quickly. "But the way my dad wrote about it in the letter... I got the impression that he didn't think I was 'Auror material'..."

Madge smirked. "You picked it just to prove him wrong, didn't you?"

"More or less," she shrugged. Proving him wrong was only part of the reason behind her choice... she also secretly hoped that she might get to see Emmeline and the twins more if she was an intern for the Auror Department.

"How very Slytherin of you..." Madge chuckled. Her hand twitched, and Adelaide could tell she was trying very hard to keep from scratching her leg again.

"Madge... Why don't you go see Madam Pomfrey about that rash..." Adelaide said gently.

Madge's eyes flashed to hers, analyzing her for a moment, as if she was trying to decide if Adelaide's suggestion was sincere or devised to uncover some hidden reason behind her ailment. What she found through this analysis, Adelaide didn't know, but eventually, Madge quietly replied, "It—It's not that big of a deal..."

"You sure? It seems like it's bothering you—"

"Addy, it's fine—"

"But—"

"—Please..." Madge said in a tone of desperation. "Please, just drop it."

It was at that moment Adelaide became certain that this mysterious 'rash' was yet another thing in the long list of Madge's odd suspicious behavior. Another clue to uncovering her secret...

"Madge... You know you can talk to me, right?" Adelaide said quietly, in earnest. "I wouldn't ever judge you..."

"I know you wouldn't, Ads..." Madge sighed. "But it's just a rash... It's nothing to worry about, I promise."

Adelaide wasn't at all convinced, but let the matter go.

The two briefly returned to their revision of potions, but when students began pouring into the hall for dinner, Madge began to pack up her things to leave.

"ADDY! ADDY I'VE GOT IT! I FIGURED IT OUT!" Sirius screamed, running through the doors and nearly knocking over some first year Gryffindors in his hurry.

Madge raised a quizzical brow at Adelaide for her dramatic boyfriends behavior.

"It's a long story..." she chuckled awkwardly, bracing herself for Sirius's latest outlandish theory.

"ADDY! You're going to love this one—Oh, hi Madge!" he said quickly, giving her a wave before turning to Adelaide with a grin. "Okay— so you know how you two look alike?"

"Sirius! For the last time—I do not look like Flora—"

"—Yes you _do_! You've got the same hair, same smile, same little nose—" Sirius booped Adelaide on said 'little nose' then chuckled when she got flustered and swatted him away.

"Are you talking about the lady you were with at Hogsmeade?" Madge interjected. Sirius answered her with an emphatic ' _YES_ '. "Oh... yeah... you two look a lot alike..."

"Madge! Don't encourage him!"

"I'm just calling them like I see them!" Madge chuckled, raising her hands in defense.

Sirius looked awfully anxious to make his point. " _Anyway_ , so, you two, from an objective standpoint, look a lot alike... and as I was flying with James I was just thinking about all the weird stuff she said... about the allergies and knowing your favorite color and the nickname... and how she could possibly know that... and then it all just clicked— what if— get this— what _if_... Flora is actually your _mum_!"

Adelaide blinked.

Madge raised her eyebrows almost into her hairline.

Sirius grinned like the idiot he was... until Adelaide whacked him upside the head, that is. "That's not funny, Sirius!" she complained.

"Oi! I wasn't joking! I thought that was a solid theory!" he said rubbing the spot where she had wounded him.

Adelaide rolled her eyes. "Did you get the ingredient?"

His wicked grin returned. "I sure did..."

"I'm going to head out, Ads," said Madge, sensing that she was overstaying her welcome. "I'll see you in class tomorrow."

Adelaide waved goodbye whilst Sirius prattled on about his day... Then, just as Madge was walking away, before she readjusted her skirt, Adelaide, by complete chance, caught a brief glimpse of the spot above her knee, the spot which she _claimed_ was only a rash.

But it wasn't a rash at all. At least, it wasn't any that Adelaide had ever seen.

It looked as if that small little patch of Madge's skin had been replaced by what Adelaide could only describe as _iridescent fish scales_...

"... she didn't even say anything—she just ran out! James thinks 'Mystery Lad' broke things off or something but—Addy?" Sirius said, nudging Adelaide's arm. "Addy are you even listening?"

Adelaide blinked and refocused on her chattering boyfriend, trying to think about something other than the fact that her friend was growing fish scales on her leg. "Uh... yeah...Someone got broken up with or something... " she muttered.

Sirius frowned. "An owl interrupted our muggle studies class this morning to give Marlene a letter—and as soon as she read it, she just ran out of class... didn't even say anything... and she looked like she was about to cry..."

Adelaide's heart fell into her stomach. "I don't think that was about a boy..." she said quietly. If Marlene was crying, it was much more likely something happened to her father...

"Yeah, I didn't think so either," said Sirius quietly, running a hand through his hair. "But I didn't say anything to James... You might want to check on her..."

"I think she prefers to be alone for stuff like this, Siri," Adelaide sighed, as their dinner appeared at the table. She didn't know what he really expected her to do. Most of the time when Marlene got moody like this she ended up yelling at her.

Sirius moved a rather ugly floppy hat so he could sit beside her. "I know... but she seemed really upset, Ads... and no one's seen her all day—I don't think she even came to lunch..."

Adelaide frowned thoughtfully and she scooped some mashed potatoes on both of their plates just as James came bouncing into the great hall. "Alright," Adelaide said quietly. "If she still hasn't turned up after dinner, I'll go track her down. Sound good?"

"Yeah... that's probably a good idea.." Sirius nodded, shoveling broccoli onto both of their plates. "So have you asked Madge for swimming lessons yet?" he asked with a smirk, trying to lighten the mood.

Adelaide watched the Slytherin girl across the hall, speaking to her older brother and looking rather rattled. "Nope... not _yet_..."


	100. Chapter 100

**Chapter 100–Make Me, Foxy**

Sitting in the grassy clearing of the forbidden forest, surrounded by tall looming trees that creaked in the summer wind, Marlene stared without blinking at the letter in her shaking hands, reading it for what must've been the thousandth time since it arrived during her Muggle Studies class earlier that day.

She knew quite some time had passed since she'd run out of the castle. The sun was gone, slipped behind the mountains ages ago and replaced with a star strewn sky and silvery moon, meanwhile, the searing summer air had steadily cooled as her stomach growled louder and louder.

At some level, Marlene McKinnon knew she should go back in before her friends started to really worry, that she should eat something, revise for her exams, get a good nights rest before classes began bright and early the next morning... but she couldn't bring herself to do it.

All she could do was sit on the patchy grass, paralyzed by the words in that damn letter.

She found it peculiar how a few squiggles on a piece of parchment could change not only ones entire mood, but entire mental outlook on life. It had only been a couple of weeks ago that she'd been glaring at Madge and Regulus on their 'not-date', listening to Finley Bell's outrageous saga of embarrassing moments throughout the quidditch season that year, and laughing so hard her side hurt at James's stupid prank on the other idiot boys.

Now, it felt as if all those things were just a dream— that the foreboding, all encompassing feeling of hopelessness was her new normal. That she'd never be happy again.

She looked down at the tearstained, crumpled piece of parchment and swallowed the lump in her throat. Her mother had written to tell her (before the article came out in the next day's news paper) that another rescue mission had taken place for her father... only this time, the auror's _actually_ found something.

Her father's hand.

 _Just_ his hand.

The tears fell down freely and she clutched the letter to her chest, rocking back and forth, sobbing in the dark under the stars her father loved so much.

She didn't care that she wasn't supposed to be there. She didn't care that an acromatula could come creeping in to make her a midnight snack. She didn't care that she might miss classes the next morning or that if someone caught her she'd end up scrubbing pots in detention well into her fifth year.

She knew she _should_ care, she just didn't.

All she cared about was the fact that her father was probably alone and hurting... and she couldn't do a damn thing about it.

It wasn't fair. None of this was fair. Why him? Why _her_ father? Why did that monster take such sick pleasure in torturing her family like this? It was like it was all a game to him... Voldemort was like a cat playing with its prey... Dangling hope of finding her father alive, just to rip it away at the last minute... over and over again... Why not just kill him and be done with it all—

She cried harder for even thinking such a thing.

But eventually the tears ran out... and her pain and heart ache was replaced with only numbness.

"Marlene!" a voice called in relief from somewhere near the clearings edge after some time had passed.

Normally, that voice would make her stomach flutter with pleasant anticipation, but at the moment... she felt nothing. It was as if her emotions had be shut off.

"Marlene... _Mythical Magpies_ , how long have you been out here?" the voice asked.

"Muggle Studies," she replied, her own voice hollow and hoarse from crying and screaming at forest animals (she felt a little guilty for scaring off a poor misguided thestral that crossed her path around twilight).

Footsteps approached, soft on the uneven patches of grass and dirt, breaths heavy as if they'd been running, then she felt warmth where they sat themselves at her side. However, it wasn't until a rather pleasant smelling cloak was wrapped around her shoulders that she realized she was cold.

"Marlene—I-I asked Addy where you were and she said you'd run out of class—And then when she said you never came back—I was—I was so worried something happened..." he trailed off.

She knew he wanted her to say something back, give an explanation of sorts, but she simply didn't have the physical or emotional energy to grace him with more than a monosyllabic response. But part of her must have felt bad for the poor sap, because she then did something she'd never done before.

She handed him the letter.

Letters from home were sacred to Marlene, even before her father was kidnapped by Voldemort's goons. Family was sacred, as she had explained to him during their long conversation over pumpkin pasties. Letters from her mother were the one thing that could brighten her day without fail... well... they _were_...

He took the letter, albeit a bit hesitantly, and she knew by the sharp intake of breath when he got to the worst part.

"Oh my—I—I'm so—I'm so so sorry..." he stammered out.

Again, _normally_ , she'd at least have the decency to make fun of him for being so awkward... but at the present she couldn't summon enough energy to do more than stare at a half-dead wishing weed in the grass as silent tears rolled down her cheeks.

"Marlene... I wish... I wish there was something I could do..." He sounded like he was going to cry. Why would he cry? It's not like he knew her father? "If there's anything— _anything_ at all I can—"

She stopped him before he had a chance to make any grand proclamations. "I could use a hug," she found herself saying.

That was an odd thing for her to request, she mused internally. She hated hugs. But in that moment, it's exactly what she wanted—what she _needed_.

Regulus didn't waste anytime granting her request.

He wrapped his arms around her and held her as if he was trying to keep her from crumbling apart. He was so warm, so comforting. A warm, comforting, Slytherin? Who would have ever guessed?

She held on tighter, breaths coming out in gasps, burying her head in his shoulder... and then, like a dam breaking, every numbed emotion came crashing over her all at once, more intensely than they had all day: sadness, fear, grief, anger (there was a lot of anger).

She fell apart most utterly, sobbing uncontrollably and inconsolably into his shirt in the most unpleasant, most unladylike, most unromantic way possible. It was a truly disgusting display, full of snot and tears and ungraceful hiccups with a smidgen of wailing and screaming. It was easily the most embarrassing thing that had ever happened to her, and the most vulnerable she'd ever felt... and yet, she also felt so safe.

And he didn't run away or freak out like any other teenaged boy probably would have, nay _should_ have (she was an emotional wreck after all—who in their right mind would stick around for that?). He simply held her tight, rocking ever so slightly and stroking her hair.

He didn't make any stupid promises like that things would get better, or that she'd see her dad again. There was no false hope or unrealistic optimism. He didn't even really try to cheer her up (something he was prone to do). He was simply _there_ , in that moment, helping her feel safe enough to _feel—_ to process through the torrent of emotions raging within her.

They could have stayed like that, clinging on to each other like a couple of idiots, for minutes, hours, days—she had no idea—but at some point, the tears ran out, her breathing steadied, and she finally let go.

"'M sorry bout your shirt..." she mumbled, wiping her nose with her hand.

He looked down as if he just noticed the giant soggy spot and shrugged. "It's fine. Nothing the house elves can't clean..." he said casually, pulling out a hanky from his pocket and handing it to her.

Normally, she would have been too prideful to accept a handkerchief, but her very last wisp of dignity floated away when she got snot on his shirt.

"Thanks..." she muttered.

"Sorry I didn't turn it into a duck this time..." he chuckled weakly, scratching the back of his neck.

"I wasn't thanking you for the hanky, Black..." she said before blowing her nose rather loudly.

"You should be—that's made out of real Siren Silk, you know—quite pricey—illegal in a lot of countries..."

She was surprised when she let out a hoarse chuckle at his stupid attempts to be funny.

"So... why were you looking for me?" she asked quietly. "And how the hell did Addy know where to find me...?"

He ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "Well I have no idea how Addy knew where you were—I sort of figured she watched you run out here—but as to why I asked her where you were..." —He paused and began rummaging through a book-bag she just now noticed was at his side— "I wanted to give you your book back in person..." he said, pulling out an old tattered copy of Jane Eyre.

Carefully, Marlene took the book from his hands. "What'd you think?"

"It was bloody depressing—but in a nice, romantic way," he shrugged, smirking slyly. "Very _you_."

Marlene shoved lightly him with a small smile.

A contented silence fell over the pair of them. He gazed up at the stars whilst she sat beside him and flipped through the pages, seeing where he'd made his own little notes in the margins. His unnaturally neat handwriting made her's look nearly as bad as Addy's... but she didn't really mind.

"You know it's way past curfew..." he said almost lazily after a while.

"I figured," she said, completely indifferent to the fact.

He nodded, still looking up at the stars. "You know... I do that thing you taught me a lot... with the stars and the breathing..." he said quietly. "Really helps clear my head... but I'm honestly still a tad bitter about the spiders..."

Marlene snorted a laugh and they both gave each other a sideways glance at the exact same time, like it was straight out of a cheesy romantic comedy.

"We could have died, Marlene," he said rather too solemnly for the smirk that was threatening to pull at the the corner of his mouth.

"You're the one that said you'd be up for picking a fight with a dragon..." she shrugged.

He nodded thoughtfully. "This is very true... I guess we're both a little mad, eh?"

"Nope. Just you," she smirked.

Regulus chuckled, eyes drifting back to the glittering sky but hers stayed fixed on him, studying him.

Sometimes she thought she understood him perfectly, then others he made absolutely no sense. He was like a great big snakey puzzle. Just when she thought she had him pegged, he did something that surprised her.

Like when he went on that bloody date with freaking Madge Farley.

Not that she would have wanted him to ask _her_ instead, but she _had_ stopped snogging other boys since he started sending her all his annoying 'tokens of affection'. And on that note, she was half convinced he only sent all that stupid shit to her to being annoying—Seemed very in character for him. But regardless, she _thought_ they had an unspoken understanding after that night eating pumpkin pasties... but judging by how irritatingly gleeful he looked strutting around Hogsmeade with that alleged cat killer, she guessed she was mistaken.

"You need to stop sending me all that—all that stuff..." she said feebly, drawing his attention away from the great celestial bodies above.

His face was impassive. "I can't owl you over summer."

That wasn't exactly what she meant...

"I really shouldn't even be talking to you right now..." he said airily, looking back up at the sky.

"And yet, here you are..." she muttered, trying to ignore how insulting his previous sentence came across.

He glanced down at her with a soft smile, warmth radiating off of him while his cool grey eyes drew her closer in that magnetic way of his. Was he always sitting that close? She blinked several times, trying to ignore how very good he smelled, how fast her heart was beating, how shallow and shaky her breaths were becoming. "And yet, here I am..." he said quietly, almost to himself, as if marveling at this fact, then to her great displeasure, he looked back out to the sky... _again_.

Maybe it was her complete lack of cares to be given at that moment, or the comfortable trust established between them after she'd bawled her eyes out on him, or maybe she really was mental, but she found herself staring at him, and asking the question that had been burning a hole in the back of her mind for weeks.

"Do you fancy Madge Farley?"

Sharply, he turned to face her with an odd expression. "Are you _seriously_ asking me that?"

"Don't dodge the question, Black," she said diplomatically. "I'm not in the mood."

She didn't know how she expected him to react, but she sure as hell wasn't expecting him to laugh... nor for him to laugh quite so _loudly_ at that.

"Laugh a little louder—I don't think the people on mars can hear you..." she grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Merlin's beard—I thought you were smart?"

Marlene fought the urge to stick her tongue out at him. "I _am_ smart!"

"Listen, Foxy—"

"—Stop calling me that!"

"—Madge is just my friend—"

"Yeah... sure... _Friend_..." Marlene said nastily. "Your _friend_ whom you just so happened to take out on a date..."

"It wasn't a date," he said calmly, clearly amused. "She just wanted an excuse to get out of dress shopping—"

"Looked like a date..." she muttered, faintly aware that she might have been pouting. _Since when did she pout?_

Regulus smirked looking equal parts irritating and attractive as he leaned in slightly. "McKinnon... Are you, by any chance... _jealous_?"

"No."

"You seem a little jealous..."

"I'm not."

"You're pouting," he pointed out, leaning closer, eyes glancing down to her lips a little longer than was entirely necessary.

"I've had a shitty day— I think I've earned the right to pout."

He sighed and the smirk fell from his face, probably remembering why they were sitting out there in the first place.

"I don't fancy Madge, McKinnon," he said more sincerely.

Judging by his tone, he might have been telling the truth about Madge... but she didn't know if this was a good thing or not...

"But I could never date her anyways..." he said carefully, looking at her with that odd expression once more. "She's a half-blood..."

A slight breeze blew through the clearing, making the leaves rustle and branches moan forebodingly; Marlene pulled his cloak closer around her shoulders. "And that matters?"

"Not to me..." he said quietly. "But my mum would—" His breath caught and he didn't finish his sentence.

Marlene bit her lip, remembering the bits and pieces she'd heard from Adelaide about his and Sirius's parents.

"She would be upset..." she supplied.

"She would be furious," he corrected.

"How furious?"

He looked down at his hands. "...Imagine if—imagine if your mum found out you were dating a future Death Eater."

She took a shaky breath. "That bad, huh?"

"Worse."

Marlene didn't want to imagine what _worse_ meant.

"Well... it's a good thing you don't fancy her, then..."

Regulus's eyes met her's once more, practically burning with some unplaceable emotion, making her heart thud hard against her chest, much quicker than she thought was healthy.

Somewhere along the line, she realized that Madge probably wasn't the the half-blood they were talking about.. and it terrified her. To acknowledge that they might _actually_ have feelings for one another was almost too much, because despite the fact that she knew it was doomed, all she wanted in that moment was to kiss him and call him hers... and if his face was any indication, he wanted the exact same thing.

She swallowed, but her mouth was suddenly very dry...

She tried to look away, but the intensity in his silvery gaze was almost intoxicating.

Her breath shook. Her cheeks were burning.

He was so close, so very close now. Even in the moonlight, she could see every faint freckle on the bridge of his stupid perfect nose, every annoyingly thick eyelash around those damn eyes of his. Those eyes that were now flitting between her eyes and her lips as he moved even closer. Their breaths were mingling now, and though it wasn't the first time they'd been this close, it felt different. It felt surreal.

It felt as if time had stopped.

"Marlene..." he said in almost a whisper, warm breath falling on her lips, nearly making her shiver. "There's something I need to tell you..."

Marlene wasn't entirely sure she'd be able to form words, so she shot him a quizzical look and hoped that would suffice.

"You have to promise you won't freak out..."

Her head was swimming, but she nodded. "I-I promise." She could handle whatever it was, she was sure.

"There's a spider on your shoulder."

Marlene freaked out.

" _WHAT_?! GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF OF ME!" she screamed swatting her shoulders spastically, trying to get rid of the cursed arachnid. "REGULUS, _HELP ME_! IS IT GONE?! TELL ME, IS IT GONE?!"

Regulus was holding his stomach as he roared in laughter. "Y-your face!"

"DIE, YOU STUPID SPIDER! DIE!" Marlene, who was still in full on battle mode against the alleged spider, gradually stopped as realization came seeping in. "Hang on... There— there was no spider, was there?" she stated more than asked.

Regulus shook his head, practically wheezing with his laughs.

"YOU ARSE!" She pushed his arm making him fall over onto his side, laughing harder than ever. "YOU ABSOLUTE ARSE! IT'S NOT FUNNY!"

" _Regulus, help me!"_ he said in a high-pitched voice before dissolving into more laughs.

"I do not sound like that!" she complained.

" _Die, you stupid spider, die!"_

Overcome by intense, almost childish irritation, Marlene grabbed a fist full of dirt and uprooted clover and threw it in his general direction. "Shut it!"

He sat up, even more amused. However, instead of dusting himself off as she expected him to, he proceeded to grab a handful of dirt and throw it at her in a similar fashion... hitting her square in the face...

His laughter ceased momentarily as he tried to figure out how she would react to this counter attack.

Marlene sputtered the dirt out of her mouth, then sat eerily still, eyes closed for a long few moments.

When she finally re-opened her eyes, a diabolical smile painted itself upon her lips. "Oh, you are _so_ dead, bird boy..."

Without even giving him a chance to reply, she grabbed two fistfuls of dirt, grass, wildflowers— whatever she could reach—then scurried over towards him and pelted him mercilessly with the bits of earth, laughing maniacally.

Soon, dirt and unearthed plants were flying through the air haphazardly as the sounds of their carefree laughter brought a light of its own to the gloomy forest. It was chaos in the best sort of way and Marlene laughed so hard that her side hurt, though that might have had more to do with the fact that she hadn't eaten since that morning.

"Ahk, nooo!" she squealed when he grabbed her around the waist with one arm and smooshed some clover in her hair with the other.

"It's for good luck!" he laughed.

Marlene, as soon as she was free, cackled when she threw a handful of dirt in his face like he had earlier... "Ha! Take that!" She cackled harder when she realized that most of it landed in his mouth.

He sputtered it out and she could see little bits of mud in his teeth when he grinned at her.

This childish little skirmish went on for quite some time (longer than either of them would ever admit to), but after a while they came to a truce and sat grinning next to each other as they panted, covered in dirt and grass, trying to catch their breath... all sad thoughts impossibly far away.

"You've got a little something in your hair..." Marlene chuckled, pointing his comically messy hair which had numerous twigs and blades of grass sticking out in ways that defied gravity.

"Oh, do I now?" he laughed. "Thanks for letting me know, Foxy."

"Don't call me that!"

"Don't call you what?" he asked, feigning innocence. " _Foxy_?"

"Yes!" she laughed, shoving him half heartedly. It was such a stupid nickname.

He grinned as he leaned so he was right in her face, then said, "Foxy, Foxy, Foxy, Foxy, Foxy!" purely for the fun of seeing her so annoyed.

Marlene tried to look more irritated, but her stupid mouth couldn't stop smiling. "Stop it—!"

"— _Foxy, Foxy, Foxy, Foxy, Foxy_ —!"

"—shut up!"

Smirking, he leaned in even closer. "Make me, Foxy."

Marlene kissed him.

Just like that, insanity took hold and she closed the distance between them and kissed him. She pressed her lips against his, not even thinking about the consequences nor the fact that they were both covered in dirt and mud and kissed him.

It wasn't an earth-shattering kiss, there were no magical sparks flying around, Regulus was too surprised to even kiss back or close his eyes... and it only lasted for a moment... but it was still better than any kiss she'd had with any other boy up until that point... because it was with _him:_ The sweet boy who always managed to make her laugh when her world was falling apart.

She was the first to pull away and was immediately shocked by what she'd just done, hands flying over her mouth, eyes wide.

Regulus stared at her stupidly with similarly wide eyes, face clearly flushed, mouth slightly agape, as if he was trying to comprehend what had just happened and if it was real. "Uh..."

"I-I—I um..."

"You—you kissed me," he stated as if he was trying to convince himself this was true. "You— you just—you _kissed_ me..."

Marlene's heart was beating much too fast. "Well—well, you wouldn't shut up..." she defended lamely.

He blinked and then laughed in disbelief. "And there weren't any other ways of making me be quiet?"

Marlene's blush intensified. "Erm... Well, I would've hexed you, but I left my wand in Muggle Studies..."

He chuckled, though it wasn't really meant to be a joke...

"So, you—you're not mad?" she asked carefully.

"That I got my first kiss from a girl who manages to look gorgeous even when she's covered in dirt with twigs on her hair? Nope, I'm not mad at all..." he grinned, shaking his head.

Her hands instantly flew to her hair. Sure enough, there were some twigs stuck in there. Then, his words sunk in... "Wait... that was your _first_ kiss?" she asked incredulously.

He blushed furiously and it was adorable. "Well... yeah..." he shrugged awkwardly.

Marlene blinked a few times. She had just stolen his first kiss. "I'm sorry... I didn't know..."

"Why're you sorry? It was great!" he laughed with a goofy grin.

This, Marlene had to laugh at, because while it was nice, sweet, maybe even lovely in an endearingly awkward sort of way since it was with him, it was most certainly not _great_. "Oh, I can do _so_ much better than that, Bla—"

"MARLS! MARLS, ARE YOU OUT HERE?" called a familiar voice from the clearing edge.

Freaking James Potter. Marlene was going to kill him.

"Prongs! Please come back to the castle!" pleaded a melodic voice that could only belong to Adelaide. "I told you I had it covered—!"

Marlene and Regulus both bolted upright and stared the clearings edge, listening as the voices grew closer.

"Addy, she could be half dead from one of those giant spiders by now—"

"—She's not dead," said another voice, Sirius. "They're still on the map—Ow! Addy, don't hit me!"

" _They_?! _THEY_?!" James said incredulously. "She's with Mystery Lad, isn't she?!"—the reply was muffled, but Marlene was pretty sure Adelaide and Sirius were both cursing— "MARLS! THE JIG IS UP! COME ON OUT—"

"Follow me," Regulus whispered, placing her book (which had the letter tucked in between the pages) into his bag and and helping Marlene to her feet.

It was a sobering thing, knowing that they might be found out. Survival instincts kicked in and the two of them somehow managed to skirt past the little search party and make it out of the woods undetected. They ran all the way from the forest to a courtyard near the front of the castle and ducked into a vestibule overlooking the lake, trying to catch their breath, praying that the merry band of do-gooders wouldn't spot them.

"You— bloody Gryffindors— always have to save everyone—" Regulus panted, looking down at her with a smile.

Marlene laughed breathlessly as she shoved him lightly. "Says the boy— who— ran out in the forbidden forest— alone— to save me..."

He grinned. "Well—we snakes can be awfully protective."

Marlene's face flushed and not from the exercise. "But you're not a snake."

His smile softened and he looked at her with the magnetic look again. "I think that's possibly the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me..."

She smiled back up at him then looked out towards the lake, watching what seemed to be three rather large fish splash around in the distance, tails glittering in the moonlight. "Well... don't get used to it..."

He let out a low laugh. "Wouldn't dream of it, Foxy."

"I told you to stop calling me that!" she snapped, smiling up at him despite her tone.

He smirked. "Oh, that's right— Silly me... Please accept my apologies, _Miss_ Foxy—"

"Stop it!" she thwacked his arm with a laugh. "You're only doing that so I'll kiss you again!"

He leaned down, smirk widening. "So what if I am?"

"So... so I-I don't think that would be a very good idea..." she said, trying to sound confident. "Might give you the wrong impression..."

"And what impression might that be, Miss Foxy?"

Marlene looked away, focusing on the fish again, they seemed to be racing now. "You might get the impression that I have feelings for you when I don't..."

Regulus hummed looking out to the lake as well, obviously not believing her. "Probably for the best..." he shrugged. "Nasty things, those feelings... get people in all sorts of trouble..."

Marlene snorted a laugh and glanced up at him. He was smirking. "I whole heartedly agree, Mr. Black."

* * *

Sirius caught Adelaide's hand before she accidentally added mandrake extract to their potion. "Are you going to ask her—" he whispered, slyly nodding toward Marlene and Mary's work table.

Adelaide carefully placed the extract back on the table, then scooted out of the way. "No… I talked to Reggie this morning and he thinks it's best if I just give her a little time first…" she whispered back. "And maybe you should add the ingredients… I'll stir or something…"

Sirius nodded, looking thoughtfully down at their bubbling potion. "Yeah… yeah, you're probably right." He handed her a ladle. "Here—Clockwise for 10 stirs, then anti-clockwise for 7—"

"Got it—"

"—Other way, Ads!"

Adelaide smiled up at him sheepishly. "Sorry! Sorry! I've got it, I promise!"

Sirius let out an exasperated chuckle as she counted her stirs with the utmost concentration, then looked up at James working with Madge Farley. Things didn't seem to be going all that well.

They're cauldron was rattling horribly and letting off some greenish fumes, James was in a pissy mood from staying out looking for Marlene all night to no avail, and the Slytherin girl was clearly flustered and kept itching her leg, to the point that she'd torn a run in her tights… twice. Sirius just figured the fumes were getting to her.

"… six… seven! Ha! I did it!" Adelaide cheered proudly, looking over at Sirius with a big smile, pointing at the simmering cauldron. "Look, Siri! I did it!"

"Good work, Addykins." Sirius chuckled, then calmly took the ladle out of her hands before she sloshed unfinished potion all over them and told her to chop some bitter root. "So… did Reg say anything _else_ when you talked to him…" he whispered.

"No," she muttered, annoyed. "But he looked all smug— I bet you five sickles he kissed her and he's not telling me to be a spiteful little shi—"

"Ten minutes left in class!" Professor Slughorn announced. "When you've finished your healing potions, bottle a sample and leave them at the front!"

"I'm so glad this is the last class…" Adelaide said lowly, so only Sirius could hear. "Only one more year and I'll never have to make another stupid potion for the rest of my life—"

He snorted a laugh, nearly losing his grip on the bat spleen he was slicing. "Addy, you realize you need a N.E.W.T. in this class if you're going to be an Auror, right?"

Adelaide rolled her eyes. "Well, good thing I'm not going to _be_ an Auror—"

"But you're doing the internship!" he exclaimed, stopping his slicing all together.

"I'm only doing it so I can prove I _can_ do it," she explained as if this should have been obvious. "I don't actually want to be an Auror."

"That makes no sense…" he said shaking his head then returning to the spleen.

Adelaide was going to respond, but lost her train of thought when a large puff of bright yellow smoke poofed up from James and Madge's cauldron. "And I thought I was having a rough day…"

"You didn't have to deal with him all morning…" Sirius said, dropping the bat spleen into the royal blue liquid, one little sliver at a time. "He's been bugging me for information now that he knows that _I_ know who Marlenes non-boyfriend is… Honestly, I feel sort of bad for the poor chap…"

"Aren't you going to prank him at lunch in twenty minutes?"

Sirius shrugged, smirking slightly. "Yeah."

* * *

"Lily, I promise I'm fine," Marlene said for hundredth time that day before taking a slurp of her vegetable soup.

"But cramps that debilitating can be indicative of something really serious, Marley!" Lily exclaimed. "You should've seen Madam Pomfrey—"

"Are we really going to keep talking about Marlene's monster cramps all day?" Mary whined. "She took the day off of classes— now she's better— end of story—"

"Thank you, Mary," Marlene said pointedly. When she came up with the cramps excuse for her erratic behavior the day before, she didn't expect Lily to get quite so worked up about it. And in a way, Mary was right… she was better. Obviously the news of her father still deeply upset her, but she was thankful that they pulled the story from the Prophet that morning.

Lily seemed a little perturbed, but let the matter go, turning to Adelaide. "You've been quiet, Ads… Anything going on with you?"

Adelaide's attention was split between listening to the girls whom she was sitting with and watching the boys down the table… waiting for the big moment.

"N-nothing much…" she said distractedly. "Didn't blow up our potion today, so that's a win."

Mary laughed and started talking about her own potions class story when a loud _BANG of_ someone furiously hitting a table reverberated through the hall.

 _Show time_ , Adelaide thought, grinning.

"PADFOOT, I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" cried out a nasally voice, gaining the attention of the whole hall as he climbed over the table, sending cutlery and dishes clattering to the floor as they tried to trying to reach for Sirius, who was roaring in laughter.

Sirius half-ran, half stumbled through the middle aisle of the hall trying to escape what seemed to be a very angry Severus Snape wearing rectangular glasses and Gryffindor robes that were much too large for him.

Remus was shaking his head, trying to hide his laughter behind his hand, while Peter sat beside him looking anxiously at the two fighting boys with wide eyes.

"Consider us even now, Prongs!" Sirius laughed, effortlessly dodging the awkward lanky figure trying to take a swing him.

"Oh good merlin…" Lily breathed. "He used Poly juice potion on James…"

Adelaide was laughing so hard she was in tears, leaning against Mary (who was also laughing hysterically) for support.

"THAT WAS THREE WEEKS AGO!" Fake Snape cried out incredulously, greasy hair falling over his face and obscuring his irate expression. "And I only gave you a tail and a tutu!"

"You gave me pink hair!"

"Addy charms your hair all the time!"

"That's different—"

"How is that any different?!" Fake Snape asked in exasperation.

This, in truth, stumped Sirius for a moment.

"Oi! Sev! I didn't know you had a twin!" laughed a new voice from a group of Slytherins much to the amusement of the rest of the students.

Severus Snape stared at his doppelgänger in abject horror. It was hard to tell who was angrier between he and James. Real Snape absently took a sip from a water goblet at his side, probably trying to decide what hexes would prove most nasty against James.

That's when phase two of Sirius's master plan took effect.

You see, Sirius was clever enough to know that just turning James into his arch nemesis wasn't enough. He knew that to _really_ embarrass him, to truly insure that another violation of rule number eight of the Marauder's code would never again occur, he would have to turn his arch nemesis into James.

It was poetic in a way, Adelaide thought.

Fake James was, as expected, furious and beside himself with indignation, spewing a steady stream of curses for both Real James and Sirius (but mostly James).

"POTTER, YOU SWINE!" Fake James Potter screamed, furiously grappling for his wand. However, with James's body came James's terrible eyesight. "WHERE IS IT?" he seethed, becoming more and more annoyed that he couldn't just hex Fake Snape.

Marlene caught a glimpse of Regulus subtly moving his wand out of reach, then winking when he caught her looking.

"You're going to need _these_ , Snivellus!" Fake Snape called out in his nasally voice, dangling the rectangular glasses in his hand as he grinned.

Fake James cursed louder.

With the James and Severus being too busy screaming insults at each other to really remember that it was all Sirius's fault, and the rest of the school either laughing or freaking out, Sirius took a seat beside Adelaide to enjoy the show.

"Ah... Revenge is sweet..." he sighed, with a dreamy far away look, throwing an arm over Adelaide's shoulders. Davey Grudgen gave him a thumbs up from the Hufflepuff table. "Remind me to thank Pandora..."

The verbal fight became increasingly more heated and eventually Fake James located his wand, pointing it at Fake Snape with a sneer that seemed too evil to be on Jame's face. Sirius leapt to his feet, muttering, "Not my best friend you slimy git..." just before running to Fake Snape's side and shielding him from a purple spell.

" _Protego_!"

The spell bounced and went zooming towards the person to the left of Fake James… which just so happened to be Regulus Black.

Everything happened as if in slow motion, Marlene watched the strange purple hex whirling towards Regulus's happy face which was still looking at her. He had no idea. Without thinking, she stood to her feet and shouted, "WATCH OUT!"

Regulus swerved left and the hex blew past his sleeve and landed on the wall behind him.

"ENOUGH! THAT IS _ENOUGH_!" boomed Professor McGonagall, finally running out onto the scene. "ALL THREE OF YOU—WITH ME TO THE HEADMASTER'S OFFICE—NOW!"

As the deputy headmistress escorted the thee delinquents out of the hall while students clapped and Sirius bowed like the egotistical git he was, all Marlene wanted to do was make sure Regulus was okay.

But she couldn't.

"Good call there, Marley," Mary said, clearly rattled. "Who knows what kind of stuff Snape might've used—"

"I'm sure he wouldn't have actually tried to hurt, Potter," Lily said quickly, brows furrowed.

Marlene looked at her in disbelief. "Are you _really_ defending Snape?"

"He's my best friend, Marlene…" Lily said slowly.

"Well I'm your best friend too, and I'm telling you that whatever spell that was was nothing good."

"Look, I know you hate Slytherins, Marley, but he's not—"

"He's not _what_ Lily? He's not dabbling in dark arts?" Marlene asked, eyes narrowed. "Do you _really_ believe that?"

Lily stood her ground, not one to be intimidated. "I do."

Marlene got up from the table without speaking.

"Marls, wait!" Adelaide called, standing as well.

"Addy, if you follow me, so help me God I will hex you," Marlene said with no hint of humor in her voice just before she stomped out of the hall.

Adelaide didn't dare follow her.

Marlene wanted to scream. She wanted to punch someone. Everyone she cared about was being hurt by dark magic and it made her so angry that she just wanted to kick something.

And so she did.

She dipped into an abandoned classroom and began kicking the wall, letting out all the anger within, pretending it was stupid Voldemort, the death eater that killed her aunt, Severus Snape, Regulus's family— anyone and everyone who was standing in the way of her being able to be happy with the people she cared about.

"Woah— Marlene— Marlene, stop—" she heard a voice say, but she just continued to kick the wall over and over again, jaw clenched and trying to keep the angry tears from falling and ignore the throbbing pain in her foot.

"Foxy, Please… You're going to hurt yourself…" the voice said, this time placing their hands on her shoulders.

She stopped.

She turned to face Regulus with tears in her eyes. "He could have hurt you, Regulus…" she said as the tears began to roll down. "That slimy git could have hurt you and—"

This time, Regulus kissed her.

He placed his hands on either side of her face, leaned in and pressed his lips against hers, taking her breath away and silencing all thoughts beyond how blissfully happy she was that he was kissing her. Making time stop once again. Their first kiss might not have been great, technically, but this kiss most certainly was.

Her hands moved around his neck and into his soft hair, melting in his arms, then he broke away, breathless as he pressed his forehead against hers.

"Sorry… you wouldn't shut up…" he said, smirking.

Marlene smiled slightly and shrugged. "Seems fair to me…"

He pulled away a little more to look at her properly, then frowned, wiping her tears with his thumbs. "Were you really that worried about me?"

"I—Well… I mean… yeah…" she said hesitantly. "Gryffindors can be protective too you know…"

He chuckled softly. "True… But I'm guessing that's not the only reason you were in here trying to break your foot again."

With the afternoon sun pouring through the window of the abandoned classroom, Marlene could now see his eyes better than she'd ever been able to. Silvery rippling pools with cool blue undertones like the waves of the ocean just before it rains. Wild but calm. It was those stupid pretty eyes of his that made her do stupid things like tell the truth.

"It's just— it's everything…" she confessed.

"Everything?" he asked, furrowing his brow and trying to understand.

"Everything," she repeated. "I miss my dad… and my mum… and my aunt… and I know I'm going to miss you over the summer too, and I'm just so angry at the people who keep trying to ruin everything— It's not fair— none of it is fair and it just makes me so furious that I can't—" her words were halted by a choked back sob.

Regulus leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead, stroking her cheeks with his thumbs as he cupped her face soothingly. "I'm sorry… I know it doesn't help— it doesn't make anything better— but I'm so sorry and you're right… it's _not_ fair," he said, shaking his head. "None of what has happened to you is fair and if it were me I'd be furious too… But Marlene, look at me— If you let those who have already taken so much from you steal your hope, your joy, your love— You're giving them what they want. You're letting them win… And you're too much of a fighter to go down like that..."

Marlene's lip quivered as she nodded. "Are you sure you're not a Hufflepuff?" she said, trying to lighten the mood.

Regulus laughed then pulled away as the bell rang off in the distance. "Marlene… It's— it's going to get better, alright?"

She nodded once more, wiping her tearstained cheeks and trying to compose herself enough for her afternoon classes.

Despite the fact that her corner of the world was utter insanity at the present… Marlene believed him. Despite her own inner cynicism, she believed him. Things might not be perfect at the moment… they might not ever be as good as they used to be… but one day they would get better than they were at the present.

After all, things were already better just having someone like him in her life…


	101. Chapter101

**Chapter 101–Fire Water**

 _Everywhere she looked there was fire._

 _Flames twisted high into the trees. Relentless animal figures consumed and destroyed every living thing in their path, leaving her childhood in nothing but smoking ashes._

 _A firey falcon swooped in from overhead as Adelaide sprinted in what she hoped was the right direction, coughing and gasping for air through the think smoke, until finally, she reached the garden door engulfed in fire as well._

 _Without missing a beat, she waved her hand and magic swung the burning door open, fanning the flames to burn brighter, sparks singeing the fabric of her dress as she hurried forward._

 _A barn owl's cold and shrill screech rang out from behind... within the fire._

 _No._

 _"BERWIN!" she screamed, turning on the spot. Her voice cracked and her throat was raw, but she didn't care._

 _He was supposed to be safe._

 _He wasn't supposed to be there._

 _Another terrified screech confirmed what Adelaide now knew was an inevitable event._

 _Berwin was still trapped inside the maze of fiendfyre._

 _She hadn't been able to save him._

 _She looked around, trying in the haze of confusion and panic to think of something, anything that could help him... that's when she saw her._

 _A woman, standing near the edge of the garden path in dark tailored robes, wand raised, gazing onto her hellish handiwork with a horrific sense of pride._

 _Her mother._

 _"P-PLEASE—STOP!" Adelaide cried out desperately, running towards her. "BERWIN IS STILL—IN THERE!" she screamed through her coughs, pointing back to the now blazing door of the garden. "PLEASE—PLEASE, MOTHER! PLEASE! WE HAVE TO SAVE HIM! PLEASE! I CAN'T LOSE HIM TOO!"_

 _Adelaide knew it was a long shot trying to appeal to the last shred of human decency Cathryn possessed, but it was still worth a try. Besides, what else could she do?_

 _Unfortunately, Cathryn Fawley remained as firm and resolute as ever, the scorching path of destruction flickering in her hazel eyes. Hazel eyes that held an odd distance. She seemed lost in her own thoughts. So lost, that she didn't even seem to notice her daughter screaming at her. It was like she didn't even know Adelaide was there._

 _Stumbling forward, Adelaide forcefully took her mother by the shoulders and shook her. If her mother would just_ look _at her. If she would just_ listen _—_

 _Adelaide yelped when her mother's wand flung her to the ground._

 _She landed hard onto the rocky path, faintly aware that her ankle was now in a highly unnatural position. Cathryn's eyes were cool and distant as her gaze returned to the fire._

 _Adelaide tried to get up. But she couldn't. She tried, through tears and clenched teeth, to douse the fire with every spell she could think of. But it was useless._

 _The only person who could stop the fiendfyre from climbing higher and higher into the trees was the one who started it._

 _There was another horrible screech._

 _A horrific cry of pain._

 _Berwin in pain._

 _"B-BERWIN!" Adelaide shrieked. "NO! BERWIN! PLEASE, MOTHER! PLEASE, HE'S GOING TO DIE IN THERE! PLEASE STOP! PLEASE YOU HAVE TO STOP THIS!"_

 _"I can't," Cathryn said with eerie calmness._

 _"Please, Mother!"_

 _"I can't."_

 _"PLEASE!" Adelaide sobbed. "PLEASE, I CAN'T LOSE HIM TOO!"_

 _"He has to die—"_

 _A fiery snake burst through the garden walls._

 _Stones and burnt ivy flew out in every direction and Adelaide ducked her head in her arms to protect herself from flying debris_

 _Sobbing, head tucked against herself, she could smell the burning stronger than ever. Burning wood, burning hair, burning grass, but now it was mixed with a nauseating rotting smell that didn't make any sense. She gagged as a pungent rank scent, mixed with a hint of sweetness began to overpower everything else._

 _Then, as if things couldn't get more bizarre, Cathryn laughed. Cathryn smiled. Cathryn looked happier than Adelaide had ever seen her._

 _Cathryn was watching in pure elation as one last batch of angry,_ screaming _flames barreled directly towards them—_

 _It seemed Berwin wouldn't be the only one to die by her mother's dark magic that day._

Adelaide gasped, sitting up, eyes flying open to only darkness. Her hands fumbled blindly at her side, fingers grazing over the comforter and various books, rustling the now crumpled notes she'd been revising before falling asleep.

One breath.

Two breaths.

It was just a dream.

It was all just a dream.

Another awful dream...

She ran her hands through her sweat soaked hair, panting and trying to get a hold on herself.

Across the room, Marlene let out a rather loud snore. Adelaide squeaked and accidentally kicked a potions workbook onto the floor with her foot.

"Mmm... Ads?" a sleepy voice said from the bed to her right. "You okay?"

Nope.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine, Mare," she lied. "Go back to sleep."

"You sure?" Mary asked through a yawn.

"Mhmm... Weird dream is all."

Mary shifted in her covers. "Mmm... Just punch those kangaroos in the nose—that's what I always say..."

Adelaide sat tense and sweaty in her bed until Mary finally fell back asleep, snoring almost in time with Marlene.

'The Fire Dream', as Adelaide had dubbed it, had become a reoccurring event as of late. A rather exhausting reoccurring event that she'd miraculously managed to keep a secret from everyone, even Sirius (which was nearly unheard of). She justified her duplicity by telling herself that he and all her friends were worried enough about her as it was with summer looming, no need to make things worse over a few silly nightmares.

Besides, the nightmares were only happening because of stress and there was nothing her friends or anyone else could do to fix that—except maybe if they let her skip final exams.

But it was too late for even that. Final Exam week would begin the day after next and Adelaide had put in too much work and deprived herself of too much sleep revising to skip them entirely (even if Dumbledore let her). Besides, if she was honest, her anxiety of making good enough marks to pass her classes was only part of the problem... there was still the whole matter of going home the following week...

Final exams plus impending doom. A perfect combination for bad dreams.

Which was all 'The Fire Dream' really was.

A bad dream.

That night, nothing horrible had happened to her or to Berwin. Her mother wasn't there. Nothing was on fire. Adelaide was safe— safe in the drafty girls' dormitory with Dorris by her side, shaken, but determined to not let a stupid nightmare bother her.

However, despite her determination to not be bothered, she still couldn't bring herself to go back to sleep right away lest the fiery images returned.

Quietly and trembling she moved her feet out from under her damp covers and onto the floor, slipping them inside her fluffy slippers, then grabbed the cozy robe draped on her desk chair and wrapped it around herself.

On unsteady legs, she padded the few steps from her bed and nestled herself within the cool, dusty, stone window nook, Dorris clutched close to her chest, and looked out of the dirty diamond-pane glass onto the Black Lake and grounds nestled against twinkling star strewn sky.

Adelaide had never had much affinity for the stars. The bigness, the nothingness, the inky blackness of that space between the lights always freaked her out. But on that particular windless, summer night, she could appreciate why Sirius loved them so much.

They _were_ quite dazzling if she didn't think about them too hard. The way the glittering vastness reflected in the still waters made it seem like she could jump right into the universe and swim between the galaxy's—if she ever learned how to swim, that was.

But the waters weren't exactly _still_... true there wasn't much wind, but every once and a while a ripple would disturb the Milky Way or send Jupiter wobbling off course.

At first, she figured it was the damn grinylows out to further torment her even from afar. However, whatever was moving in the water was much too big to be a Grindylow... and far more graceful than the giant Squid. Again, the beast sent water spraying and splashing. Adelaide scooted closer to the window, eyes straining to get a better look. All she could decipher was a large fish tale. A large, oddly glowing, iridescent fish tail.

Odd.

She'd never seen a fish like that in the water before.

Yet, something about it struck her as keenly familiar...

Why was it so familiar?

* * *

"You look like shit."

Adelaide's bleary eyes fluttered open. There was an awful pain in her neck, light in the now gloomy, drizzling, sky, and the presence of a sassy figure looming over her. She groaned, stretching her stiff limbs and popping joints within the confines of the uncomfortable, stone window nook.

Apparently, she fell asleep in the middle of fish watching.

"You're going to be late for breakfast," said the looming figure, voice like nails. Marlene.

Again, Adelaide groaned. She was supposed to eat with Regulus and Madge today, which meant that as much as she would have liked to skip breakfast entirely and go back to sleep in the comfort of an actual bed (preferably Sirius's), she couldn't. Well, she could, but then she'd have to deal with them complaining about it the rest of the school year and probably in letters over the summer. Not worth it.

"You really look like shit."

"Yeah, I know. You already said that," Adelaide grumbled, clumsily getting to her feet and tossing Dorris on the bed on her way to her wardrobe.

A dizzy spell hit and she held onto the wardrobe handle to keep her balance until it subsided, rubbing her aching neck.

"Wasn't sure you heard me," Marlene shrugged. "Why'd you sleep on the floor?"

"Because it's so spectacularly comfortable..." Adelaide said, finally yanking her baby pink and white sundress off of its hanger. She knew it wouldn't fit right. After her recent growth spurt most of her clothes were too small. But an ill fitting sundress was still preferable to wearing school robes on a Saturday.

"You know, sarcasm doesn't really suit you..."

"You know, I really don't care."

Marlene chuckled. "Well aren't you just a ray of sunshine on this gloomy day..."

Adelaide closed her eyes and gritted her teeth together. Her laughter was giving her a headache. Or maybe it was the beginning of a migraine? "Marlene, would you _please_ just leave me alone?"

"Why? You never leave me alone when I ask—"

"Seriously, Marlene. I'm really not in the mood."

"Maybe if you'd sleep in your bed like a _normal_ human you'd—"

Adelaide threw the sundress on the bed and rounded on her slippered heel to Marlene. "For your information, I _was_ sleeping in my bed but then I couldn't because I had a nightmare!" Adelaide didn't even know why she was telling Marlene this— it's not like it was any of her business anyway. "Look, I appreciate you waking me up but can you _please_ just let me get ready in peace?"

Marlene mutely stared at Adelaide for a moment but, to Adelaide's great displeasure, she did not leave her alone.

"I get nightmares too," Marlene finally said, inspecting her nails, acting calm and unaffected. "Not so much anymore... but after my aunt died they were pretty intense."

Adelaide didn't know what to say to that and opted to bump past her on the way to the restroom.

"You should ask Madam Pomfrey for some potions," Marlene said, following after her.

Adelaide knew she was in an unusually horrible mood when she considered chunking a hairbrush at Marlene's head just to get her to leave her alone. She didn't know what they all expected Poppy to do. She was already taking potions for her restless sleep, but they lost their potency ages ago—

"Is that a zit?" Marlene asked, pointing at Adelaide's face as if she'd spotted an errant fairy or something equally baffling.

Adelaide frowned and squinted into the mirror.

It _was_ a zit.

A rather large one located on her nose.

 _Great_.

Since when did she get zits?

"Merlin, I didn't think Veela's had to deal with shit like that—"

"I'm not a damn Veela!" Adelaide snapped.

Marlene scoffed. "Yeah... and I'm not a stone cold bitch—"

"Please go away!" The deprivation plus stress, combined with Marlene's particular flavor of bluntness so early after waking was pushing Adelaide to her tipping point.

"Geez... What's the matter with you today? You sound more like me than you—"

"Marlene McKinnon! Please, leave me alone before I hex you!"

Marlene waved her off dismissively. "Your wand's on your nightstand, I already checked."

Adelaide gritted her teeth, squeezing the wooden hairbrush in her hand and said in a low voice, mostly to herself, "I don't need a damn wand to turn you into a duck..."

"Did you just say you'd turn me into a duck?" Marlene snorted. "Jesus, you must be PMSing or some—"

The hairbrush burst into flames.

"SHIT! Addy your hand—!"

Adelaide dropped the hairbrush on the floor, surprised and horrified by the accidental magic.

"I-I didn't mean to!"

"You set the bloody brush on fire!"

"It was an accident!" Adelaide insisted looking down at her hands to see the wisps of a flame still emanating from them.

That was new.

And horrifying.

"An _accident_?! How do you accidentally set a bloody hairbrush on fire?!"

Adelaide squeezed her hands into fists and tried to think of a rational reason behind her accidental magical outburst.

Stress?

However, before she could answer, the fallen flaming hairbrush (which had landed quite close to a dirty jumper of Lily's which Mary had borrowed then left on the floor)... had now set the dirty jumper ablaze as well, painting the bathroom in a glow that might have been homey had it not been so alarming.

"SHIT!" Marlene yelped. "SHIT, SHIT, SHIT! Addy put it out!"

"ME?! You do it! You have a wand!" Adelaide said, pointing at Marlene's hands.

"I'm rubbish at water spells!"

"How can you be rubbish at _water_ spells?!"

"Not everyone is an effing genius, Fawley—"

"You don't have to be a genius to do a _water_ spell—"

The flames grew larger.

"Shit, Ads! Just go get your damn wand and put it out!"

"Its all the way in the other room— just hand me yours—"

Marlene pulled her wand away protectively. "So that you can set it on fire too? No, thank you!"

Adelaide stared at the dancing flames for a moment weighing her options. If Marlene wasn't there, she could have probably done the spell without her wand... she'd been practicing her wandless magic whenever she felt like procrastinating on her end-of-term revision. But Marlene _was_ there... so... "Ugh! Fine! But can you at least _try_ to put it out—"

"Fine! Fine, whatever! Just go!"

Adelaide didn't understand why Marlene couldn't do a simple Aguamenti charm but zoomed out of the bathroom and into the dorm on the hunt for her wand nonetheless. Where did Marlene say it was again?

The room was a dreadful mess. Between four teenage girls and finals, it's clutter rivaled that of the boys' dorm (though it smelled considerably better).

"There you are!" said a cheery voice at the door. "I've been looking everywhere! Mary said you were still—"

Adelaide swiveled toward the source, wild hair falling in her face.

Sirius was standing quite puzzled in the doorway wearing a scarlet red jumper, dark hair tousled to absolute perfection.

She mentally noted how unsurprised she was to see him.

"What are you doing?" he asked, head tilted to the side, eyes landing on her nose.

Adelaide puffed her unbrushed hair out of her face. "Looking for my wand."

"You mean _that_ wand?" Sirius pointed at her nightstand.

Without saying a word, Adelaide lept over the bed grabbed the elm and mother of pearl wand then sprinted back into the bathroom...

"Ads! Wait! What are you— _Holy Horklumps_!"

"MARLENE! WHAT DID YOU _DO_!?" Adelaide said furiously.

It had been seconds. Mere seconds. And yet, in that time Marlene McKinnon had managed to let the flames spread to the rug... the shower curtains... the wooden stools...

"I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING! I LOOKED AWAY TO TURN ON THE FAUCET AND WHEN I LOOKED BACK THE STUPID FIRE WAS FLYING AROUND LIKE IT WAS POSSESSED OR SOMETHING!"

"Why is there a fire in the first place?!" Sirius said, stepping backwards away from a feisty flaming stool.

"ADDY WAS PMSING AND SET THE BRUSH ON FIRE AND— wait, how did you get up here—?!"

Sirius furrowed his brows. "What's 'PMSing'—?"

"It was an _accident_!" Adelaide roared. "Sirius, I didn't mean to—" She rounded to face Marlene. "And I'm _not_ PMSing, you're just annoying—!"

"Whatever— just put it out!" Marlene snapped, aggressively pointing at the wand in Adelaide's left hand.

Adelaide coughed into the crook of her elbow from the smoke that was beginning to accumulate, then raised her wand. " _Aguamenti!"_

* * *

By time Adelaide finally put out the fire, helped Marlene and Sirius to clean up the damage, and got herself ready (using Mary's hairbrush) she was _very_ late for her breakfast with Regulus and Madge.

She walked alone (thankfully) down from the dorms to the great hall, trying to wrap her mind around what the hell had happened that morning.

She couldn't remember the last time she'd had a true case of accidental magic—perhaps before she came to Hogwarts? Usually when stuff like that happened it was halfway planned. She'd imagine setting the monopoly rules on fire and then _poof,_ on fire they would be.

But the hairbrush caught her by surprise.

She looked down at her red and raw hands—sore and burned from those very flames—

"Where the _hell_ have you been?!" Regulus said, throwing his hands in the air to fully express his exasperation.

Adelaide coughed, tucked her hair behind her ear and tugged her too-small, pink sundress down awkwardly as she sat across from him at the mostly empty Slytherin table. Breakfast was nearly over and all that was left were cold eggs, lukewarm prune juice, and a few bagels with suspicious contents. "Sorry... I was dealing with a... situation..."

Regulus grumpily pushed a cold bowl of oatmeal towards her and slouched down in a very un-dignified manner. " _Situation_..." he grumbled to himself. "A situation called 'everyone ditch Regulus day'?"

"I didn't ditch you! I'm here, aren't I—?"

"First Evan bails to go hang out with Mary and Potter, then Charlie decides he's going to be friends with that dolt Avery again, then Madge runs off all night and then again this morning to see that that oaf Hagrid—"

"Now you're just being rude."

"—and now here _you_ come in with your big list of excuses and 'situations'—!"

"It's not an excuse, it's a _reason_!"

Regulus let out a loud breath. "Whatever—I was sitting here, by myself, not eating, guarding your stupid oatmeal like an idiot for an hour and a half, all because you were too busy snogging my stupid brother to remember we had plans—"

"Oi! I haven't snogged anyone today! I told you I was dealing with a _situation_!"

"Situation— snogging— same difference—"

"Ugh! No! Not the same! I would have been here sooner but I had to put out the fire in the bathroom because apparently your girlfriend can hex the pants off of a death eater but can't manage an effing water spell!"

"For the last time, she's not my— wait, why was there a fire in your bathroom?!"

"Because Marlene's a pain in the arse, that's why," Adelaide said, stabbing her congealed oatmeal with her spoon.

"I still don't understand how that causes a fire..."

"She was saying all this stuff and getting me wound up and— and I accidentally set a hairbrush on fire—"

"YOU WHAT?!"

"Relax! I put it out eventually! And no one got hurt— unless you count Lily's jumper... and the stools... and the rug... and the shower curtains... But those shower curtains are really better off being burned if you ask me—"

"Addy, how do you _accidentally_ set a hairbrush on fire?!"

"I think the question you _should_ be asking is why your girlfriend was incapable of putting out the hairbrush I set on fire," Adelaide said sagely with her mouth full.

Regulus leaned over the table, looking around anxiously. "Would you _please_ stop calling her that? Someones going to hear you..." he whispered.

Adelaide rolled her eyes. The only other students anywhere near them were Madge's big brother and his Ravenclaw girlfriend, and they were sitting all the way on the far end of the table, much too absorbed in flirting over a game of wizard chess to pay them any mind. "That's what she is though, right? Your girlfriend—"

"No!" he hissed. "I told you, it's not like that!"

"But you two kissed... multiple times..."

"Kissing isn't the same as dating— besides, that was a mistake."

Adelaide jabbed her spoon in his direction, scowling. "You take that back!"

"No! It _was_ a mistake, Addy! I led her on..."

"I thought _she_ kissed _you_ first?"

Regulus waved her off. "Doesn't matter—Point is, it's never going to happen. We both know it. Not as long as my mum's in the picture, at least..."

Adelaide frowned. Of course he'd blame it on his mum. "Well if that's all, I bet I could get my dad to dig up some dirt on her— have her thrown in Azkaban—"

"Addy!" Regulus yelped.

"Oh, calm down," she tutted. "I'd get her out eventually... After you and Marley have had a chance to get married and have a couple kids— It'd be cruel to keep ol' Burgy away from her grand-babies—"

Regulus scoffed, the hint of a blush rising up his cheeks. "You're ridiculous..."

Adelaide smiled smuggly. "Maybe... but you've got to admit I paint a nice picture..."

Regulus chose not to humor her with an answer. "Hurry up and finish your breakfast, will you? We've got finals to study for."

Adelaide shoved a large bite of cold oatmeal in her mouth then said. "I'm perfectly capable of plotting your mother's destruction and eating at the same time, Reggie." She looked around and frowned, the fact that Madge was not in attendance finally sunk in. "Where'd you say Madge went again?"

Regulus rolled his eyes moodily. "With Hagrid."

"The big grounds keeper?" she said as Regulus nodded. She took another big bite. "Why's she with him?"

"They're pals... apparently. But she ditched me last night to hang out with him then again today! She didn't even invite me—"

"Like you would have gone," Adelaide snorted.

Regulus sat a little straighter. "I might have, had I been invited."

Adelaide rolled her eyes. "Yeah, right! You're afraid to be seen _talking_ to Marley—what would the purebloods say if they saw you sipping tea with a half-giant—"

"He's not—he's not _actually_ half-Giant is he?"

"He's twice as tall as a normal man and five times as wide—what did you think? That he was just 'big boned'?"

Regulus frowned letting this information sink in. "I still might have—might have _considered_ it had she asked me to come along..."

Adelaide seriously doubted this, but didn't care enough to press the matter.

"What's going on with your nose?"

Adelaide made a face. She'd forgotten about her other 'situation'.

* * *

Things for Adelaide after that terrible morning went considerably better. When she and Marlene broke the news to Lily that her jumper had been incinerated, Lily insisted that she "didn't really fancy that jumper anyway because James always complemented it," Mary managed to zap her zit with some highly suspicious spell she'd learned from Witch Weekly, and Sirius, being the chivalrous little sweetheart he was, snuck out to Hogsmeade to buy her a brand new hairbrush.

However, there was still no sign of Madge.

The illusive Slytherin skipped every meal, either saying via note that she'd eat with Hagrid or down in the kitchens when she was finished revising.

It was all very odd.

Then there was still the matter of Adelaide's bad dreams which had, if anything, gotten worse— more vivid. They always ended the same way: with Adelaide nearly being burned alive by a giant flaming snake monster.

Adelaide started to double up on the calming draughts just to make it through finals week, but they still did nothing to stop that horrible dream from waking her up nearly every night.

It was the evening before her last exam, potions, when Adelaide finally had had enough.

Just like she had every other night, she drug herself out of bed, however, instead of sitting in the window nook and watching the strange and mysterious glowing creature swim and splash in the lake like she had every other night, she grabbed her wand and the marauders map then walked in her fluffy slippers and fuzzy robe out the dormitory door.

* * *

Adelaide realized too late that she should have nicked James's invisibility cloak before wandering out in the halls, but made due with hiding whenever a prefect would come wandering along. She even evaded Peeves (though he was quite busy pouring vats of chocolate pudding all over the suits of armor to really pay her much mind).

What she also realized, too late, was that the person she was planning to see wasn't even in the castle. "Sorry, Miss Fawley. He's been away on ministry business since Wednesday," Gary the gargoyle informed her.

It figured that the one time she agreed to let Dumbledore help her he would be off in some other part of the country.

"Well, can you let him know that the stupid dreams are driving me mad?" she said, with her arms crossed over her chest.

Gary agreed and after a brief catching up she wandered off to hopefully get some sleep.

" _Lumos—I solemnly swear that I am up to no good_ ," she whispered, tapping the map to make sure that the coast was clear.

Her eyes traced over the map looking for any names wandering in her direction. That's when she noticed something rather odd (well something besides the fact that Glenda Fairview and Felicitania Tugwood were quite cozy in a second floor broom closet).

Marjorie Farley's dot was not in the Slytherin dorms

Nor was it in Hagrid's hut.

It was zipping around, rather quickly... in the middle of the Black Lake.

But surely that wasn't right.

It couldn't be.

Adelaide ran to the nearest window and saw the mysterious iridescent fish glowing beneath the waters, same as it had every evening for the past week...

And it was at that moment that she realized why the fish looked so keenly familiar.

The scales.

The scales on Madge's leg.

The itching.

The kelp lozenges for, what was it? Dehydration?

The inhuman talent for swimming.

The musical sound she'd heard when Madge rescued her.

Madge.

The fact that Adelaide didn't piece it together sooner only further proved why the hat didn't put her in Ravenclaw. It was so _obvious_ now...

Of _course_ Madge would be the last person to judge Adelaide for being part Veela...

She didn't judge because was obviously part something inhuman herself.

But what exactly _was_ she?

And how was Adelaide going to ever confront her?

 _Should_ she confront her?

After all, it's not like it was any of her business... and if Madge wanted her to know about her _fishy_ situation she would have told her, right? They were friends and Madge had to have known she could come to Adelaide about something like that.

But even if Adelaide did confront her, how would she casually bring something like that up in a conversation? _"Oh, yes Madge my Potions final went very well—nothing blew up—By the way, are you by any chance part fish—?"_

"Miss Fawley?" said a quiet and steady voice behind her, interrupting her train of thought. "Might I ask why you are out in the corridor when you should be sleeping?"

Adelaide simultaneously jumped and shoved the map into her robe pocket on reflex then turned on her slippered heel, coming face to face with none other than Albus Dumbledore.

"I—I uh... I was— I was um..."

Dumbledore's blue eyes twinkled and he sighed, the the sagging wrinkled skin under his eyes dark, as if he hadn't been sleeping well himself.

"I couldn't sleep, sir."

He heaved a great sort of sigh and rubbed the bridge of his nose, making his shimmering blue robes ripple gracefully. For all his faults. The man had style. "Mmm... yes, I find on nights when sleep evades, tea and a nice chat is usually the best solution..." He nodded to himself and began to walk off back toward his office. "Care to join me, Miss Fawley?" he said, looking over his shoulder.

Adelaide's hands fiddled with her illuminated wand, palms still coarse and sensitive from the burns inflicted the weekend before from her accidental magic.

She really _could_ use some tea.

* * *

Adelaide sat with her feet hanging off the squashy armchair Dumbledore had conjured, slurping her camomile tea.

The large and beautiful circular room was full of funny little noises. A number of curious silver instruments stood on spindle-legged tables, whirring and emitting little puffs of smoke. The walls were covered with portraits of old headmasters and headmistresses, all of whom were snoozing gently in their frames. There was also an enormous, claw-footed desk, and, sitting on a shelf behind it, a shabby, tainted wizard's hat. The sorting hat.

Sometimes Adelaide wondered how much less complicated her life would have been had she been sorted into Hufflepuff. No mischief was being had there. No great mysteries to solve. And from what she'd heard from Amelia Bones, their dormitories were so cozy they practically repelled nightmares.

But, alas, she was no Hufflepuff and thus her life sailed along a sea of complications.

Dumbledore was awfully quiet, sipping on his own camomile tea in a matching salmon armchair. He didn't pry for information or try to read her mind, and for that she was thankful, but she did wish he would say something... at the very least tell her if she would be receiving detention for breaking curfew.

"Erm..." she cleared her throat. "Sir, am I in trouble?"

He peered up behind his half-moon spectacles. "No more than usual, Adelaide."

That answered exactly nothing.

Typical Dumbledore.

"Uh... Are you going to give me detention?"

He seemed genuinely surprised. "For insomnia? That wouldn't help a bit, now would it? One might say it'd only exacerbate the problem. No, no. Like I said before, I believe tea and a nice chat are the best medicine for such things."

Adelaide blinked and opted to take another long slurp of her tea.

"I do apologize for my absence... an old wizard's work is never done it would seem... But, I hear from Gary that you've had some rather... _troubling_ dreams as of late, have you not?"

Adelaide shifted in her seat. While she was here she might as well tell him the issue... She was desperate after all...

"I have, sir."

He nodded, tapping his mug with a long wrinkled finger. "Is it a new dream that is distressing you, or more of the same..."

Adelaide gulped. "Erm... I uh... Well I've had the dream before... over the summer... but now it's all the time and it's—it's longer than before. There's more details—"

"That makes sense. The future is less pliable as the presence starts to catch up."

She had absolutely no idea what he was trying to say. "Right..."

"What's happening in this dream of yours?" he asked, wand commanding the floating tea pot to refill their cups.

Adelaide watched two sugar cubes sprout appendages, jump out of the sugar jar and dive into her steaming tea with a small 'plop', dissolving almost immediately upon impact. "Well… there's a fire, sir..."

Dumbledore nodded, spoon tinkling as he stirred his own tea.

"My garden's on fire—and my owl—Berwin—he's trapped and... well let me just start from the top." She then told Dumbledore the whole story, being sure not to leave out a thing lest it be important some how, and all the while he listened intently, as if he was committing her story to memory.

Adelaide still didn't know if she could fully trust the man, but in that moment he was there for her. Listening patiently, patting her on the back and conjuring a rather soft hanky when she got emotional towards the end.

"A-and she just kept saying he had to d-die!" she told him, wiping her eyes with the hanky. "Berwin never did anything to her! Why would she try to k-kill him—and like _that_?!"

Dumbledore patted her on the back as she blew her nose loudly.

"Forgive me, but did she say that _Berwin_ had to die?"

"I just told you she did! I asked her to save him and she said he had to die!" Wasn't he listening?

"But, Adelaide, did she say that Berwin _specifically_ had to die?" he asked calmly.

Adelaide opened her mouth, but no words came out.

 _Did_ she say that?

"Well... no... but it was implied," she said.

Dumbledore nodded. "And was there more to the dream?"

Adelaide sniffled shaking her head. "Well not really— She said he had to die then this big fire snake tried to burn us up—she seemed awfully happy about that part—oh and it smelled awful—"

Dumbledore straightened up in his seat, putting his tea cup on a random table that Adelaide was _sure_ hadn't been there before. "A snake?"

"No, it was fire in the _shape_ of a snake. Broke the wall down—that's the part that always wakes me up. I think we burn up in the end."

"And your mother was happy about the snake?"

"Oh yeah, totally off her rocker cackling like a maniac—but it could have been the fumes—"

"The smell..." Dumbledore said, up and pacing the study now. "You said it was bad? Can you describe it?"

Adelaide scrunched her brows together. She didn't understand how this part was so interesting to him—perhaps it was dark magic thing she didn't understand—but she was much more interested in figuring out how to make the dreams end, or at the very least how to save Berwin if they were actually predictions of the future.

"It smelled... well it sort of smelled like this dead ferret Peter and I found out in the forest—Erm... I mean... out _by_ the forest... near the hippogriff enclosure."

They actually found the dead ferret out in the forbidden forest when they were with Moony one night, but there was no need to get into too many details.

Dumbledore eyed her curiously, obviously catching her lie, but letting it slide.

"So it smelled of rotting flesh... interesting."

'Interesting' wasn't the word she would have used...

Something more like grotesque, disturbed, or horrific, would have made more sense.

"And the dreams ends there? With the snake—"

" _Fire_ snake, but yeah... it tries to burn us up..."

"And in the dream, can you remember anything else? Why were you in the garden in the first place?"

Adelaide opened her mouth, but like before, his question rendered her silent.

Why _was_ she in the garden?

"I—well I always supposed it was to save Berwin..." she said, however even saying it out loud sounded wrong.

Dumbledore paced a little more, back and forth in the round study, blue robes and long white beard flowing out behind him, lost in thought.

The bells in the clock tower tolled on: it was three in the morning.

"Sir," she began, hesitant. "Sir, how do I make the dreams stop?"

He looked up as if he just remembered she was there, then his eyes softened, looking at her with a definite tone of pity which she resented. She didn't want his pity. She wanted his help. What good was having tea with the most powerful sorcerer on earth if he couldn't put an end to her bloody nightmares?

"I have a solution that may help... but first, I must ask... is this the only dream that's been plaguing you?"

No.

No, it wasn't.

She also had dreams about Alexander mixed into the rotation—the events leading to his death, the attack, the birthday card— but those were such old news now... routine.

"I mean..."

It occurred to her, in that moment, that Dumbledore may have known of Alexander...

That perhaps he could fill in the gaps of her memory.

Maybe he could tell her why she was able to remember things she shouldn't be able to remember.

Maybe she'd finally get some more answers.

But if she told Dumbledore... what would happen?

Surely he wouldn't tell her mother, knowing that she was a certifiable loon.

But would he tell her father?

He might.

And what would happen if her father knew?

He'd probably bring her into the office to have her properly obliviated the second she hopped off the train.

She didn't think she could handle having Alexander scrubbed from her memory again...

Even if it made things easier.

She didn't want to lose what little she had left of him.

Dumbledore was staring at her, hanging on her every word.

She had to choose.

She wouldn't give up Alexander.

"I mean sometimes I dream about a weird stuff like James's eyelashes attacking me or a white wolf chancing me through the french countryside, but those aren't so bad. Not like the fire snake."

Dumbledore stroked his beard and hummed. "And has there been any other peculiarities surrounding the snake dream—"

"Fire snake— and no—oh! Wait no... I did accidentally set a hairbrush on fire the other day—but that was mostly because my friend Marlene was being a total bit—"

"You _accidentally_ set the hairbrush on fire? Meaning it was wandless?"

"Well... yeah... but it wasn't— I mean it surprised me as much as it did Marlene! My hands still hurt..."

Dumbledore frowned, gesturing for her to show him her hands, inspecting them. He was either looking for traces of dark magic, or doing an impromptu palm reading. Whatever he found must not have been all that interesting, however, because he merely frowned again then waved his wand healing her hands almost instantly.

"Stress can make magic unstable—especially at your age. You need sleep and the accidental magic should subside."

Which brought them full circle.

"Yeah, but with all due respect, that's the bit I'm having trouble with, Professor."

Dumbledore ignored her and walked over to the corner of the room, tapped a large stone hutch with the tip of his wand causing the stones to rearrange themselves and reveal a large stone basin, carved with ancient Saxon runes carved around the edge.

It was just like the basin in her mother's hidden room.

She could now see, much like in her mother's hidden alcove, similar crystal vials filled with bright, whiteish silver contents that moved ceaselessly. They were like light made of liquid, or wind made solid.

Dumbledore then brought the wand to his temple and with a slight wince, pulled one of the shapeless wisps out of his head and poured, for lack of a better word, them into the basin.

Adelaide rose from her seat to get a better look. "Sir, is that—?"

In the basin, between the bright silverness, Adelaide could plainly see herself, small and frail, sitting on the pink armchair. She looked behind her at the empty chair, then back at the basin.

"It's called a Pensieve," Dumbledore explained. "One simply siphons the excess thoughts from one's mind, pours them into the basin, and examines them at one's leisure... or if one would rather, they could put away those thoughts for a time."

Adelaide had never heard of magic like this before.

Is that what her mother was hiding in that alcove? Memories?

"You mean all those—" she gestured to the hundred odd little glowing vials now in view within the hutch. "—came from your brain?" she asked.

Dumbledore chuckled. "No, no! I would have to be a very conceited wizard indeed to have so many of my own thoughts preserved. No, while many of them are mine—many more are thoughts, memories I've collected overtime from other people's 'brains,' as you would say. It becomes easier to spot patterns and links, you understand, when they are in this form. A great benefit to a avid puzzle solver such as myself."

It was quite the collection indeed...

"But how is this going to help me sleep?"

Dumbledore peered behind his half-moon spectacles, blue eyes twinkling. "Like I said, Miss Fawley, one simply siphons the excess thoughts from one's mind... and I'd say you had more than your fair share of excess thoughts, wouldn't you?"

Adelaide gulped. "Isn't it—isn't this just a less permanent way of erasing a memory?"

Dumbledore shook his head. "No, Miss Fawley, memory charms erase, this simply... dulls. The memory is still there, in the back of your mind, filed away with useless trivia and your relatives birthdays. But they aren't quite so... vivid, I suppose you could say."

Adelaide wasn't sure she entirely understood the concept.

"Imagine your mind is a desk," Dumbledore continued. "The things on top of the desk are things you use daily—knowing your schedule, remembering how to tie your shoes, and in your case, the nightmares. But then there are also things in the drawers, and filing cabinets, hidden out of sight and out of mind until you have need for them—things such as, the 12 uses of dragons blood, the year the third goblin rebellion was fought, or who won the battle of the Alamo. This charm simply... makes a copy of the item from the top of the desk then moves the original into a filing cabinet for safe keeping."

"So the dream—it's still there... but it won't wake me up in the middle of the night anymore?"

Dumbledore smiled slightly behind his beard. "That is the hope."

"Brilliant! Let's give it a whirl!"

Once again Dumbledore laughed at her enthusiasm. "Do you wished to keep the memory on your person, or would you rather _I_ store it... for safe keeping."

Adelaide bristled at the idea of Dumbledore having her dream hidden away to peruse anytime he so desired... but practically speaking, that was not the sort of thing she could pack up and bring home. What if her father found it? What if her _mother_ found it?

She shuddered at the thought.

Which, really left her with no other choice.

"You keep it—you can check out the fire snake when I leave."

Dumbledore smiled, then pointed his wand at her temple.


	102. Chapter102

**Chapter 102– The Elephant In The Room**

Adelaide raked her hands through her dirty, tangled hair, leaned against the mahogany railing of the boys' staircase.

"Stupid, stupid, _stupid_..." she muttered.

For many, it takes time for the full stupidity of ones actions to set in. Days. Months. Years even.

For Adelaide Rose Fawley it took roughly the time necessary to walk from the headmasters office to this specific location.

The low burning fire behind her let out a little pop, echoing in the abandoned common room, making her nearly jump out of her skin. She let out a heavy sigh then rested her forehead against the cool ancient stones of the castle walls.

How could she have been so incredibly _stupid?_

Trusting _Dumbledore_?

It all made so much sense in the moment... She obviously couldn't keep living with the stupid dreams any longer. And she couldn't exactly keep a vision of her crazy mother trying to kill them on her person..

But to let _Dumbledore_ of all people have it for safe keeping?!

That was stupid.

Idiotic.

Ridiculous.

She should have picked Minnie.

Or James.

Or literally _anyone_ else.

The realization that she had to fix this situation— that she was going to have to ask Dumbledore to give the memories back hit her like a herd of elephants. It made her want to be sick.

Add that she had mere hours before her potions exam and she was even more of a mess.

She needed Sirius.

She needed his warm hugs and forehead kisses of reassurance that always made everything better.

But that would require her telling him about what happened... about how bad the dreams had really been lately.

It was a burden she didn't want him to have to carry... but she just couldn't handle all this on her own anymore. Trying to do things on her own was what landed her in this mess in the first place.

She was reasonably certain he could forgive her for not telling him about her insomnia. Actually, knowing Sirius, he probably already suspected that her dreams were getting bad. But what would he do, what would he _think_ when she told him that she allowed Dumbledore to tamper with her memories?

The memory thing was a hot topic with Sirius.

He was arguably more upset about her parents obliviating her than she was.

But this wasn't really erasing the memories... Dumbledore was right, they were still there... hidden away.

The real tricky bit was that Dumbledore now had uninhibited access to her supposed prophetic nightmare.

How was she ever going to explain it to Sirius? Would he understand why it was necessary?

He was her best friend and she knew him better than herself in someways... but she had no idea how he was going to react.

But she still needed to tell him.

If for no other reason than the fact that they told each other everything and lying to him made her feel like a horrible person.

Adelaide's forehead was still rested upon the wall when it shook, as if something very large was stomping around on one of the landings. Probably one of the older students throwing another one of their ridiculous parties upstairs, having nothing better to do after finishing O.W.L.s the week before (She couldn't really judge them though, she and the boys were planning a end-of-term soiree of their own— though, theirs was going to involve better activities, such as muggle board games and some contraband candy she had Rob send her from Bulgaria).

She sighed, pulling herself upright and readjusting her robe, then rested her healed hand upon the railing once more, looking up the dimly lit, winding mahogany staircase, decorated with crimson and gold that led to Sirius's dorm.

She should probably wait to fess up until _after_ the potions final, right? Wouldn't want to ruin the lad's marks all because she was a big idiot... right?

Less than 24 hours of deception. A blink of an eye as far as she was concerned.

The railing vibrated once more, resonating deep in her bones... right down to her cowering conscience.

Who was she kidding? Sirius would know the second he laid eyes on her the next morning that she was hiding something. Best to get it over with...

No matter how much she dreaded the outcome.

"He loves you," she whispered to her failing confidence with each reluctant step upwards. "He loves you—even when you're an idiot... It's going to be okay... because he loves y—"

The walls shook making dust fall from the rafters.

Must have been some party the upperclassmen were throwing.

After a few more steps, she finally reached the door. Her hand reached out for the handle but paused when the cool metal reached her fingertips. She gnawed at her lower lip. Her intestines knotted themselves into a tangled ball.

It was just Sirius.

It was going to be okay.

He would forgive her for being stupid.

He would understand... surely...

She had to believe that he'd understand.

"You can do this, Addy," she whispered.

Her hand reached out, unlatching the door with every intention of silently creeping into the sleepy boys dormitory— however, _sleepy_ it certainly was _not_.

"WHO OPENED THE DAMN DOOR!?" Sirius bellowed.

She only recognized it was him by his voice, for at the present moment he, as well as the others were not visible— they were all obscured by a rather large and evidently rather _cross_... elephant.

The large grey elephant, cramped and cranky in the messy boys dormitory, trumpeted in protest, rearing up on its hind legs before heaving them back to the ground with a snort, whacking its massive trunk towards James.

James, who had a Gryffindor tie wrapped around his head like a sweatband, dodged the trunk with a skillful jump and retreated to his bed, wielding, not a wand as one might expect in such a situation, but a purple umbrella.

The Elephant then turned back toward the door, eyes either terrified or beyond itself with anger. Adelaide was betting it was both.

It snorted at her and stomped its massive foot making the ground beneath her shake even more violently. Adelaide gasped, taking a step backwards through the door frame.

Silence.

Though the rampaging elephant was still visible within the room, it was utterly silent.

She let out a breath, hand reaching for her wand.

Those idiots.

An elephant?!

At least they had the good sense to put a silencing charm on the room.

She stepped back into the chaos.

"PETER! GO SHUT IT!" screamed Sirius, wand out as he stood on his own bed, with his own tie tied around his head.

Peter cowered on top of his desk wearing Sirius's beaters helmet, chocolate smudged on his face. "IT WASNT M-ME!"

"I DONT CARE WHO IT WAS!" James yelled, using the umbrella to keep the elephant at bay. "WE CAN'T LET LEROY GET OUT!"

Remus's eyes never left his potions notes as he calmly lounged in his bed. "James, Leroy can't fit through the door frame—"

James dodged the elephants trunk once more. "LUPIN, THIS ISN'T THE TIME TO LECTURE US ABOUT LEROY'S DIMENSIONS—"

"I'd say it was _exactly_ the right time—"

Sirius groaned at their bickering. "CAN SOMEONE _PLEASE_ JUST SHUT THE DAMN DOOR—"

Adelaide slammed the door shut behind her, flicked her wand at the beast and shouted, " _Diminuendo!"_

Swirling in a blast of pink light, the ill-tempered elephant shrunk down to the size of a cocker spaniel, trumpeting in a much higher frequency as it ran around the ransacked boys dormitory, head butting the boys' furniture with reckless abandon.

Meanwhile, all the boys froze. Well, all except Remus who flipped the page of his potions book and said as casually as ever, "Hello, Addy. Bit late, yeah?"

Adelaide ignored him. "WHY THE HELL DO YOU IDIOTS HAVE AN ELEPHANT STOMPING AROUND IN YOUR ROOM AT THREE THRITY IN THE EFFING MORNING?!"

"It was James!" Peter blurted out, visibly shaking atop his desk as he pointed across the room. He nearly knocked over the picture of him and his mother that hung above the desk when little Leroy galloped towards him, ears flopping, tail wagging.

Sirius didn't say anything, choosing instead to give a cold scathing look at Peter that rivaled that of Walburga.

"I'll have you know we were revising—" James said, annoyed as he pushed his broken glasses up his nose. "but then Sirius bet me four chocolate frogs—"

"Five actually," Sirius interrupted.

"—that I couldn't transfigure a cockroach into an elephant and—"

"And thus Leroy came into existence," Remus said, flipping his notes.

Adelaide pursed her lips watching Leroy gallop around in circles, nearly slipping on a dirty sock.

"In all fairness, I really didn't think he'd manage it—" Sirius said, straightening his tie/headband whilst Leroy took to butting Peter's desk. "It's not my fault three out of my four best mates are genius's."

Peter readjusted the beaters helmet on his head with a frown.

Adelaide crossed her arms and sighed. "You are all idiots."

"Excuse me?" said Remus, finally looking up. " _All_ of us?"

"Yes, that means you too, Lupin. You should have stopped them."

Remus disregarded the notes entirely at this point. "Stopped them?!" he cried out incredulously, sitting up. "I'm not their babysitter, Adelaide!"

Sirius snorted. "Not a very good one at least..."

James cleaned off his broken glasses with his golden snitch pajamas, sighing. "Ads, don't blame Moony. He's the reason we were revising in the first place—"

"Hippogriff shit," Sirius said, looking far too amused. Adelaide raised an eyebrow. "Moony's the reason _we_ were revising. _You_ were only revising because you want to beat Snape on the potions final so that _Lilith_ will finally—"

"Oi!" James's arms flailed, fumbling his glasses when Leroy head-butted the end of his bed. "Whose side are you on, Black?!"

Sirius smirked. "Addy's."

James scowled and Remus chuckled muttering something along the lines of 'at least he's honest'.

"You're still idiots," she sighed, shaking her head at their antics.

Sirius shrugged then wordlessly flicked his wand at the little elephant now trying to poke poor panicked Peter with his nose, thereby returning it to its original cockroached state— this wasn't much better as far as Peter was concerned.

"Leroy!" James cried out in despair, watching the cockroach scurry beneath a pile of dirty laundry. "Leroy, I hardly knew ye..."

Shortly after, with the threat of being squashed by an enchanted elephant gone, everyone agreed it was high time they get ready for bed. James and the others went off to the bathroom, but Sirius stayed behind, approaching Adelaide.

"So... bad dream?"

Adelaide blinked.

How did he know?

"Uh... um... w-what?"

He smiled apologetically. "You never come in this late unless you have a bad dream..."

She gulped and avoided his eyes, fiddling with her hands as soft rain pattered against the diamond-paned windows of the dormitory.

This would have been the perfect time to explain everything. All the boys gone. Him in a good mood. Hell, he even brought up the dreams all on his own.

"Addykins... I know they've been bad... worse than you've been letting on..."

Adelaide glanced up at him. "How—"

"Mary," he said with a small apologetic smile. Flipping Mary... apparently she wasn't as sound a sleeper as she let on. He was closer now, putting his hands in hers so she couldn't fiddle with her fingers anymore. "And I get it, Ads... you don't want us— _me_... to worry..."

Half the battle was over.

She just had to tell him about Dumbledore...

Her heart thumped harder. The truth burning in her throat.

"I'm so stupid..." she said, squinting her eyes closed.

Predictably, Sirius tucked her hair behind her ear, chuckling. "Did you not hear the part where I called you a genius a moment ago? Your stubborn. Not stupid."

She shook her head, still not meeting his eyes. "No... no, Sirius I—" She squeezed his hand as if she was afraid he would try to run away, trembling.

She needed to just tell him.

"Addykins?"

She opened her mouth eyes looking into his, the words right on the tip of her tongue—ready to tell him everything.

But of course this was the moment James chose to re-enter the dorm. "Oi, love birds! Save it for tomorrow, we've got an exam in the morning! Off to bed—both of you!"

Sirius hesitantly pulled away to flash James a rather rude hand gesture, then turned back to Adelaide. "Look, if it's about your potions final, you're going to do fine..."

They both knew that was a lie, but she appreciated the thought.

"And even if you don't... you're still brilliant and I still love you," he said kissing her forehead.

"Bed!" James hollered, throwing a dirty sock in their direction (Adelaide suspected he was still disgruntled about Leroy being transfigured back into a cockroach).

"Oh, keep your laundry in the bin, Potter!" she huffed, tossing the sock back at him. "I'm going! I'm going!"

And went she did.

It's not like she didn't _try_ to tell Sirius.

That was worth something, right?

* * *

The next morning Adelaide awoke feeling surprisingly refreshed, which was to say she didn't have any bad dreams. Actually, aside from the fact that she'd stayed up entirely too late and was being crushed by the weight of her deception towards Sirius and the mounting pressure of her potions exam... one might say she was having a relatively normal morning.

She tucked her hair behind her ear and watched Sirius regally brandish a dripping fork of pancakes in the air. "All I'm saying is that it's a possibility—"

"But if she really is a mermaid—" James mumbled through a banana nut muffin. "—why would she have to keep it a secret?"

Remus nodded, eyes glued to his potions notes as he reached for his pumpkin juice. "He's got a point, Padfoot."

"I'm confused," said Peter. "I thought Flora was a fashion designer?"

Adelaide opened her mouth to explain but then thought it would be much easier to take a bite of her oatmeal than to confuse him further.

Sirius rolled his eyes impatiently. "That's just a cover story, Pete—we've been through this—!"

James broke apart what was left of his muffin before Sirius could get going on his conspiracy theories. "Padfoot, you want some of this? They're really good today—"

Sirius turned from one oblivious idiot to the other. "It's got walnuts in it," he said shortly.

"So?"

"So, Addy's allergic to walnuts."

James looked from Sirius to Adelaide then back to Sirius. "Okay—but I'm not giving it to _Addy_ , I'm giving it to _you_?"

Sirius mutely stared at James as if he was an idiot.

"He can't snog Addy after he's eaten walnuts, James," Remus muttered, brows scrunched together, squinting at the parchment. He took another swing of pumpkin juice and didn't notice that it dribbled down onto his shirt and the parchment. "It'll make her face all puffy—"

"—or potentially kill her," Sirius said melodramatically under his breath.

Adelaide felt bad for James. Yet another thing ruined by his two best friends' despicable kissing habit. "Sirius, you can eat the muffin if you really want to, I—"

"I'm not eating it," Sirius said stubbornly. "You are more important than any breakfast pastry, Adelaide."

"How _romantic_ ," James said nastily, shoving the rest of the muffin in his mouth. Peter, who had been eyeing the muffin greedily, slumped in his seat.

"It really is," Remus said thoughtfully. "Considering Sirius's patronus would more fittingly be a pig—"

"Oi!" Sirius said with his mouth full of pancakes, making both Adelaide and Remus snigger. "Oh, bloody hell—not again..." he groaned as the owls began fluttering in, arms protectively covering his plate of bacon.

"Padfoot, I already told you that you could have mine if it—"

"Peter, no offense, but I don't want your bacon, alright? I want the bacon I put on my plate— _all of it!"_

Remus made what suspiciously sounded like an "oink" and winked at Adelaide from across the table, sending her into a fit of laughs at Sirius's expense.

Sirius grabbed his plate as a delivery owl swooped in. "Addy, stop laughing at me and pay the stupid owl so it'll leave!"

"I can't!" she wheezed, still doubled over. "James— here! You do it!"

A rather girly coin purse was thrust into James's unwilling hands.

There was a bit of a struggle as, per usual, the delivery owl tried it's damnedest to steal Sirius's bacon, but eventually James managed to pay the beast.

"Alright, Gollum— I saved your precious bacon— you can come out from under the table now."

Adelaide, in her guffaw, didn't realize until this point that Sirius had ducked under the the table.

Sirius said something about some bloke named 'Gandalf' followed by some curse words, struggling to get his tall self out of hiding— still shoveling bacon in his mouth as he did so.

Remus peered up behind his notes, smirked, and took a breath—

"If you oink at me again, Lupin, I'll set those bloody potions notes on fire."

Remus thought he might be bluffing, but didn't want to risk it.

"Bloody hell! I thought you got rid of it!" Sirius complained as another owl swooped in over him. "Addy, make it go away!" he said, ducking down at her side.

Adelaide laughed, and put an arm around him. "Sirius it's not—"

"GO AWAY! BE GONE YOU FEATHERED BEAST!"

"Sirius I think it's—"

"I'll send you to Mordor for this!"

"Siri, would you listen to me— it's—"

"Shoo!" Sirius snatched Remus's notes and was now using them to defend himself agains the bird, helped by James who flung himself over the plate in a show of solidarity.

"Sirius! It's trying to give you a letter!" Adelaide practically shouted of the mayhem.

Sirius, still swatting at the bird, turned to her and said, rather loudly, "A _what_?!"

"A _letter_!"

"Don't be ridiculous, Addy, I never get letters unless they're from your dad and he— NO! NO NO NO! MY BACON! YOU HEAR ME?! _MINE_! GERROFF YOU STUPID BIRD!"

It was Peter, who, in a surprising feat of semi-athleticism, stood up on the bench and snatched the letter out of the owl's beak, thereby sending it off.

The five (minus Remus) all heaved and panted after the ordeal. Remus snatched his notes out of Sirius's hands then Peter tossed Sirius the letter.

He fumbled to grab it, curious who could have been writing him.

Adelaide was curious too.

He was right in saying her father was the only one who ever wrote him. All his friends were at the castle after all... and aside from the occasional, hilarious, howler from James, or letter from the Potters or, less often, his own parents, he never received mail from any owl besides Berwin.

The envelope was quite heavy by the look of it, and very official.

Adelaide peaked over Sirius's shoulder trying to read, but he moved it so she couldn't— still peeved that her delivery owl tried to eat his breakfast. "Siri! Let me see—" she grumbled.

"Patience, woman!" he laughed, ripping the seal and pulling out a large stack of parchment with a frown. "What the hell...?"

He squinted down at the parchment, scanning the contents... brows furrowing and jaw tightening more and more the further he read.

It didn't look like good news. "Siri, what—"

Her words were cut off by a loud squeal down the table. Lily.

"I got it! Ah! Marley! Mary! Look! I got in!" she said waving around a piece of parchment.

Sirius glanced at Lily from down the table, grunted, then flipped over the letter moodily, shoving a large bite of pancakes in his mouth and frowning at his bacon plate.

She shared a bemused look with the others... well all but James who was now searching the basket for another banana nut muffin saying something about how they should get the elves to make them for the end-of-year soirée they were throwing the next week. "Sirius, who was the letter from?"

"It doesn't matter," he muttered through a mouthful of bacon.

Adelaide pursed her lips, glancing at the parchment, hoping to get a glimpse of what this could all be about... but Sirius grabbed the whole stack, envelope and all, and shoved it in his pocket.

"It seems like it upset you—"

"I'm not upset," he said, not meeting her eyes. He was, without a doubt, upset.

Adelaide let out a breath. "Well then do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really."

"Who was it—"

"I just said I didn't want to talk about it, Addy," he said, gripping his fork. "Please just leave it alone."

She frowned. "Fine... but can I at least read it?"

"No." He took another forceful bite of his pancakes.

Adelaide opened her mouth to protest when the morning bell began to toll on from the distant clocktower.

* * *

The potions exam went about as well as one would expect for Adelaide (though, she did manage to make it though the practical without any explosions). Afterwords, she crashed in Sirius's bed, taking a much needed nap whilst the boys plotted and planned an end-of-term party— well... she _was_ napping _..._ until a certain dog decided to bark its head off right next to her slumbering head.

"Shut up, Dog Breath— I'm trying to sleep."

The dog barked again, poking his cold nose against her cheek.

Adelaide grumbled, pushing him away. "Stop..."

For a moment, she thought that was the end of it... that it had gone... But a second later the dog lept onto the bed, licking her face, tail wagging as she tried to push him off. "Ugh! Sirius! Stop it!"

In an instant, the dog turned human. Though, he was still licking her face.

"Mmm... Vanilla!"

"Ew! Get off! Why do you have to be such a weirdo?!" she laughed.

Sirius grinned, finally letting her loose. "Its time for dinner, Babe."

Adelaide tried to smooth her hair, wiping his slobber off her cheek. "You know, you could have just woken me up like a normal person..."

"Yeah... But its more fun to do it doggy style," he winked.

He was swiftly punched. "Ow!"

Adelaide shoved him off of her. "Not funny."

"It was a _little_ funny," he grumbled, rubbing his sore shoulder. "Damn that hurt..."

Adelaide looked around the dorm, noticing how empty it was... and how chilly. "Where are the others?" she asked, shivering.

"They're already down in the hall— I told Pete to save you some mashed potatoes... Addy, I think that's going to leave a bruise—"

She rolled her eyes and threw a pillow at his face, looking for the jumper he'd been wearing earlier. "You'll get over it— ah! Here it is—"

Just as she shook out the jumper, trying to pull one of the sleeves from being inside out, the letter from before fell onto the floor.

Once again, her curiosity peaked. Who had written to him?

She reached down to pick it up... but Sirius beat her to it, crumpling it into his hands. "Ugh.. This place is such a mess— we're going to need to do a deep clean this weekend before that party..."

"Sirius," she said frowning.

He hummed in acknowledgment whilst he pretended to tidy his desk— though she suspected he was just trying to hide the letter. Did he really think she'd buy that?

"Sirius, who's the letter from?"

"Letter?" He said, still not looking her way. "What letter?"

"Sirius..." she said once again.

He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Its not important— just a bit of junk mail—"

" _Junk mail_ —?"

"C'mon, Ads. Poor Pete can only keep the mashed potatoes away from James for so long..."

Adelaide spared a look back at the messy desk. If she hadn't been so groggy... she might have tried to slip past him and read it right then and there... but as it was, she was still quite tired and all the talk of mashed potatoes was making her stomach growl. "Fine. But I want a piggy back ride."

"Again with the pig jokes..." he sighed with an exasperated smile. "Alrighty then, up you go, Princess."

* * *

The next day, Saturday afternoon, was Adelaide Rose Fawley's was first official day of freedom. Fourth year exams were over and the mood of the castle had drastically improved, as had the weather.

It was a sunny, beautiful day— the perfect weather for James, Remus, and Peter to sneak out to Hogsmead and secure libations for the upcoming end of term soirée—Adelaide, not wanting to risk getting caught and sent to France next term, stayed at the castle with Sirius.

She laid on her stomach upon Sirius's unmade bed, wearing her old sweat pants and Beatles T-shirt, kicking her Armadillo sock clad feet in time with the Led Zeppelin song stuck in her head, absently chewing on the last surviving sour sugar quill Flora had bought her, whilst she sketched a llama wearing a bowler hat.

Sirius sat on the floor, leaned against the foot of his bed, with half a box of Bertie Bott's on one side, a half-drunk butterbeer bottle on the other, squinting at a tattered, nerdy, muggle book levitated in front of him.

As much as Adelaide _loathed_ the fact that he was reading when they could be doing _literally_ anything else, she couldn't deny how stinking cute he looked when he was being all bookwormish.

Quietly, she put the llama sketch and sugar quill aside, shimmied down towards him, and began playing with his hair (which was curlier than usual). He leaned into her touch, but was still intently focused on his book—something was going on with an enchanted ring from what she could tell. His shoulders were tense and ridged as he squinted at the page and shoved a handful of beans in his mouth without even giving them a sniff.

Her hands tried to rub the tension out of his stiff shoulders, kissing his cheek while she did so.

"Addy... don't distract me... it's just getting to the good part... go draw another llama..."

"But I don't _want_ to draw llamas anymore..."

"Then draw an armadillo in a space suit," he said, words muffled by another handful of beans, eyes never leaving the damn book.

"I don't want to draw armadillos either—I _want_ to kiss my boyfriend." She punctuated this declaration with another quick kiss to his cheek.

"Addykins..." he grumble whined.

"Siri..." she mockingly parroted back... pecking him on the cheek once again.

He sighed, huffily dog eared the page of his levitating book, then turned around.

His lips found hers.

Though she had no real standard by which to compare it, Adelaide was quite sure he was an excellent kisser—even if he tasted like popcorn and licorice mixed with a hint of spoiled milk on this particular occasion.

Unfortunately for Adelaide, he pulled away much too soon, hand resting on her cheek. "Addy, you know I'd love nothing more than to snog you senseless until James and the others get back—" Adelaide grinned and tried to close the distance between them, but Sirius pulled away. "—but I _really_ want to finish this book before I go home on Wednesday—Mum burned the last batch of muggle books she found and I _have_ to know what happens."

She pouted, feeling guilty... but not guilty enough. "Please...?" she asked sweetly. Surely he wouldn't pick a book over her, right?

He looked at her, conflicted.

Usually, _he_ was the one begging _her_ to snog, having it the other way around _should_ have been a dream come true...

He must've _really_ wanted to read that stupid book...

That's when a lovely idea occurred to him, or so it would seem.

He pressed a soft kiss to her nose. "How about we do both," he said proudly.

"Both?"

"Well yeah, we can cuddle... and I can read to you a bit... then we can kiss... then I'll read some more—But don't worry, I'll catch you up on what's going on so you're not lost."

Adelaide made a face. She didn't want to hurt his feelings, but she had _zero_ interest in listening to him read the nerdy muggle book to her, even if there were cuddles and kisses involved. Besides the fact that the muggle who wrote it knew _nothing_ about how _real_ magic worked, Sirius was half way through the second book of a trilogy. The amount of 'catching up' that would require made her want to skip the whole thing entirely and take a nap instead... or maybe draw that armadillo in a spacesuit...

"Oh don't make that face... It'll be fun, I promise!" he chuckled, pulling himself onto the bed to sit in front of her.

She continued to pout.

She knew she was being selfish, but she was about to go _weeks_ without seeing him, possibly _months_ if Flora didn't let him visit, and she just wanted to make the most of their time... and that meant having his undivided attention.

"Addykins..." he started softly, scooting in closer and tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. "It'll be fun, I promise."

Adelaide glanced from his eyes to his lips repeatedly. She didn't say anything, but her request was clear. She wanted him to kiss her without any stupid books to distract them and she wasn't going to give up until she got what she wanted.

He probably should have put up more of a fight.

However, after a few seconds of giving him 'sad kitten eyes' he sighed dramatically in defeat. "Fine... You win..." She grinned and immediately leaned in, managing only a few deliriously sweet kisses on his lips before he regained his train of thought and pulled away. "On one condition!"

Adelaide grumbled impatiently. " _What_?"

He smirked. "You have to promise you'll read the first book over the summer."

"But I don't _want_ to read your nerdy muggle book!"

"Remus read it! James read it! Hell, even Peter's _trying_ to—come on, Ads! You'll love it—"

She seriously doubted that.

"And it would mean a lot to me..."

Oh now he'd done it.

"You're my bestest best friend... I want to be able to talk about Lord of the Rings with you... more than anyone else... Please, Addykins?"

Well how the bloody hell was she supposed to say no when he said stuff like _that_?

She couldn't.

Because now she _wanted_ to read the stupid nerd book just to make him feel more loved. Ugh!

"Okay, _fine_ ," she sighed. "Deal. But I want kisses everyday until we leave! Good kisses, too! You've got to brush your teeth first or use some mouthwash or something."

"I thought you liked my dog breath," he smirked.

She made a face, proving that she wasn't kidding around.

"Oh, alright—no more dog snogs—"

"Ew! Don't call it that!"

Sirius laughed and got up from the bed and she whined, telling him to come back.

"I will... after I've 'used some mouthwash or something'!" he laughed, going into the bathroom.

While he was gone, Adelaide flipped through the book. Parts of it didn't even look like they were in _English_... What had she gotten herself into?

"I expect weekly essays on your readings, Fawley!" he said in what was supposed to be an impression of McGonagall, coming up from behind her and pulling her down so that they were laying on their sides, facing each other. She squeaked in surprise then laughed softly with her head rested on the pillow they shared.

The boy beaming back at her was far more handsome than any lanky, awkward, Lord of the Rings obsessed, fifteen-year-old boy had the right to look.

Her fingers had a mind of their own and traced over his handsome face with a feather light touch, trying to memorize him: high cheekbones, perfect jaw that could cut glass, perfectly pouty pink lips, eyes the color of misty fog surrounded by thick, curly dark eyelashes— these were all _very_ noteworthy features.

However, it was the _imperfections_ that made him who he was: the scar on his chapped lips from where his mother had hurt him years back, three little freckles near his left ear that resembled Orion's Belt, his one slightly crooked tooth on the right side from a rough full moon, the barely there scar on his nose from when she scratched him the night they became animagi, the way his left eye had a splotch of blue that you could only really see up close and in the sunlight, the way the corners of his eyes crinkled when he laughed really hard... He was beautiful and she wanted to keep that picture in her mind forever: him looking relaxed and amused while she ran her fingers over his face like an absolute weirdo.

"I thought you wanted to snog, not stare..." he chuckled, kissing her thumb as it brushed over those stupid lips of his.

"I'm just marveling at your beauty..." she half-smiled back. "You have really great eyelashes..." Her fingers brushed over said eyelashes, remembering how very upset Lily was about James's pretty eyelashes. "My eyelashes aren't as pretty as yours..."

Sirius let out a small scoff-like laugh. "You're eyelashes are pretty, Ads..."

She shook her head slightly. "Mmmm but yours are better... you can't see mine unless I put on make-up."

"Well, our kids will probably inherit my hair so, at least they'll stand a chance," he teased with a quiet laugh.

Adelaide was silent for a moment, fingers pausing their tracing.

Sirius's smile faded. "That was weird, wasn't it? I just made this weird..."

"I'm literally running my fingers all over your face and _you're_ the one that managed to make this weird..." she smirked, finger calmly tracing down the straight slope of his nose.

"I brought up kids. I made it weird," he said, with an odd expression, neck turning a little red.

He was embarrassed and it was adorable.

Adelaide smiled slightly then pulled herself forward enough to kiss his lips. It was sweet and soft and slow and she felt like she might have melted into an ooey-gooey puddle of pure bliss had he not pulled away with a worried expression, nervously playing with the ends of one of her loose curls.

"I-I'm sorry I made it weird..." A little crease formed between his stupid perfect eyebrows, eyes not meeting hers.

"You're weird. It's to be expected," she shrugged. "But I really hope they _do_ get your hair..." she trailed off thoughtfully. "It's glorious."

A smile pulled at his lips. "I want them to get your eyes..."

"You want them to have eyes the color of a freakin' leaf?" she snorted.

Sirius let out a bark-like laugh. "You're eyes are gorgeous," he smiled, leaning to kiss each eyelid, which in turn made her smile. "And so's your smile... Your smile makes me smile."

She grinned, cheeks heating up. "I really love you."

He grinned as well. "I really love you, too."

"How many?" she asked.

"How many what?"

"Kids."

"Seven," he replied without hesitation. But when Adelaide's eyes grew wide he panicked. "I-I mean... sorry... that's a lot... I was only kidding... Erm..."

Adelaide laughed loudly. So loudly that she snorted. "You want me to birth a whole Quidditch team?!"

"It was the first thing that came to mind— I would never— we don't have to have any— If you don't want—I mean— this is so weird... I made this so weird... I'm so sorry..."

"Siri, calm down." She sighed, still smiling, and put her hand on his cheek in a way that always seemed to soothe him. His face was burning and his eyes sheepishly met hers. "You're not making it weird. I asked a question and you answered. It's not a bad thing to want lots of kids... I just thought it was funny that you wanted the _exact_ number needed for a Quidditch team... James would be so proud," she giggled.

Sirius couldn't help but laugh at that. "But we aren't even old enough to take our O.W.L.s, Addy... I really shouldn't be bringing up kids... especially since you could still end up with—" he stopped himself abruptly.

Adelaide took a breath.

"Since I could still end up with someone else," she calmly finished for him.

He looked at her for a long moment. "But we're not going to let that happen..." he said quietly and slowly. To her and to himself.

Adelaide shook her head. "Nope. We're not going to let that happen."

He smiled slightly and she suspected he was thinking about kidnapping her with a thunderbird.

"So, got any names in mind for this future Fawley Quidditch team?" she smirked, her sock clad toes tickling his shins.

Sirius faked a sound of indignation. "Excuse me?!"

" _Names_ , Sirius," she smirked wider, trying to not laugh. "Do you have any _names_ in mind for this army of children you plan on having?"

Sirius rolled his eyes as he laughed. "How about a new surname to start?"

"Meh..." she shrugged. "I think Fawley is prettier."

"Sirius Fawley..." he tried, scrunching up his nose in disgust as one hand absently played with her hair. "Nope. No, I think they'll need mine."

Adelaide rolled her eyes exaggeratedly, a small smile playing at her lips. "Oh fine..."

Sirius smirked. "Cassie."

Adelaide raised an eyebrow.

"Cassie, if it's a girl... short for Cassiopeia..."

Adelaide scrunched her brows together. "You want to keep with the whole astronomy thing? I figured you'd want to break the tradition..."

"I mean... I never really put that much thought into it... I just thought it was a pretty name..." he trailed off.

"But what if it's a boy?"

"James."

"James?!" Adelaide laughed. "You can't name your kid _James_!"

"Yes I can."

"No, you can't!"

Sirius wasn't amused. "Yes I can!" he insisted.

"But what if James wants to name his kid James? You can't just take his name—"

"First of all, he told me he doesn't want to name his kid after himself—and _second of all_ , even if he _did_ , do you know how _hilarious_ it would be if we both had son's named James?!"

"That would be massively confusing."

"Exactly! It would be _chaos_! James loves shit like that!" Sirius turned so he was laying on his back, gesturing wildly with his hands.

"Oi, watch it!" Adelaide laughed, putting up her hands to protect herself from his dramatic flailing.

Sirius smirked then turned and waggled his fingers right in her face. "Sorry, is this bothering you, Fawley?"

Adelaide laughed harder reaching to hold him by the wrists. "Stop it! You'll poke me in the eye!"

Sirius grinned, easily shimmying out of her grip. "I think that's the least of your worries, Mrs Padfoot—"

"What do you—NO!"

Sirius then began mercilessly tickling her.

Adelaide laughed so hard she was in tears. "Stop! Stop! I surrender!"

Eventually they both fell back upon his bed, panting, smiles still firmly placed upon their lips.

The golden, mid afternoon sun was pouring in from the window making Sirius look even more angelic than usual. That little splotch of blue in his eye was twinkling and she wished she could bottle up his smile and keep it with her whenever she was sad.

Everything was so perfect.

Too perfect.

Too good to be true.

Sirius lazily played with her fingers, then paused, inspecting her palms more intently.

"Going to do a palm reading, are you?" she chuckled, rolling toward him.

Only Sirius wasn't smiling anymore. "Addy, what happened to your hands?"

For a fleeting moment, Adelaide's stomach flipped in panic.

Did she do accidental magic again?

Were her hands on fire?

He'd be freaking out more if they were on fire, right?

No. Not on fire.

"Um..."

"You didn't tell me you saw Poppy," Sirius said, peeved.

 _Poppy_?

She tried to pull her hands out of his, but his grip was too strong. "Er... I didn't?"

Her anxiety grew with every puzzled glance he made from her hands to her face. "There were burns before... from the hairbrush thing... now they're gone... _completely_ gone... like it never even happened... they couldn't've healed that quickly on their own..."

Well, shit.

It was just like Sirius to notice something like that.

Adelaide had still yet to tell him about her tea with Dumbledore...

And she really should have.

They told each other everything after all.

Or at least... they were _supposed_ to...

Guilt twisted within her like a dull butterknife trying to saw its way through her organs.

And Sirius, being Sirius, noticed this as well.

"Addy..." he said slowly, letting her hands free and sitting up. "Who healed you?"

Adelaide considered lying, saying she healed them herself, but he would have seen through it. She also considered telling the truth, but she knew that as soon as she told him one secret, the rest would come flooding out... The truth about why she had to see Dumbledore... About how very 'not okay' she was about going home in a few days time... even about her rediculous fear that she could actually be part Veela...

If he knew the truth—all of it— he would worry even _more_ about her than he already was. It would ruin their last few days together.

So, instead, she avoided the issue entirely, turned so she was on her stomach, and buried her face in his pillow like an ostrich with its head in the sand.

"Addy," Sirius groaned. "Ads, sit up and talk to me."

"No," she said, voice muffled.

"Ads, sit up—"

"No."

"Look, it's not a big deal just sit—"

"No."

"I just want to—"

"No."

"You're being ridiculous!"

"Yes."

"Ugh!" Sirius was getting agitated now and grabbed her by the waist, 'forcing' her to sit up.

She sat, by choice... but still had the pillow over her face.

"Adelaide get that stupid thing out of your face so I can talk to you—"

"No, thank you."

"I can't tell if you're trying to be funny right now or if you genuinely don't want to tell me what happened..."

"I'm just not in the mood to chat about my hands," she said through the pillow.

"Is this about that PM-whatever thing Marls was going on about the other day—?"

Adelaide yanked the pillow off of her face. "I'm _not_ PMSing, Sirius! And it's a really rude thing of you to even suggest that to a girl."

"What? I didn't say you _were_ I just—I don't even know what it—UGH! I just want to know why you're acting so weird!"

"I'm not acting _weird_!"

"Yes you _are_! You're acting all shifty— like you do when you're hiding something!"

"I'm not hiding anything!" The words came out before she could stop them.

"Then tell me what happened to your hands!"

"Nothing happened! There's nothing to tell!"

Lies. Lies. Lies.

"Stop _lying_ to me, Addy!" Sirius said a little louder now. "Someone must've healed them! And if you're being all dodgy about it, it must mean it was someone you're either embarrassed of or hate or—"

Adelaide put the pillow back over her face.

"I'm right, aren't I?! It was someone you don't want me to know about!"

"Sirius, please—" she mumbled through the pillow.

"Who was it? Snape? Avery—?"

Adelaide woefully groaned through the pillow.

"It was that weasel Avery, wasn't it—"

"It wasn't Avery—it wasn't even a student—"she said without thinking.

She cringed into the pillow.

Sirius was quiet for a moment, presumably racking his brain for non-students who could have healed her.

"Addy, please tell me it wasn't Riddle."

Adelaide put down the pillow and again, spoke without thinking. "It wasn't Riddle, it was—"

Shit.

Well, he was going to figure it out one way or another... Adelaide heaved a great sigh, readjusted the pillow in her lap, and waved goodbye to her idealistic dream that they could go on until Wednesday pretending everything was fine.

"Dumbledore," she said simply, looking down at her healed hands and twisting her fingers, a dull pain in her stomach. "D-dumbledore healed them..."

" _Dumbledore_? But I thought you—"

"I couldn't sleep," she said, voice sounding small and weak. She hated it. "That night with Leroy... well I-I— I couldn't sleep so I um... Well I..."

She didn't want to tell him.

She was practically cutting off the circulation in her fingers at this point, her stomach in knots. She didn't want to admit that her dreams had become so awful that she'd resulted to talking to the man she had sworn to loath and mistrust for always and eternity. She didn't want Sirius to think she was weak for letting Dumbledore mess with her mind... literally.

"Let me guess..." Sirius unlatched her fingers and held both her hands in his, warm and comforting. Too comforting. "The nightmares got bad again and you asked him for help... and he healed your hands while you were there..."

Adelaide let out an awkward laugh at his accuracy, still not looking at him. Too ashamed from lying. Too ashamed that she'd been such a coward.

"I was going to tell you—that night... that's why I came up there... but then the elephant and finals... and—and everything was so perfect—I-I just—I didn't want to ruin it—I didn't want to make you mad..."

Sirius kissed her forehead. "Addy, I'm not mad at you..."

The butter knife in her stomach stabbed again.

"But you're worried about me— which is even worse..."

"I'm always worried about you," he laughed. "It's part of being a boyfriend."

Adelaide didn't laugh. She looked down at his hands still holding hers hostage.

"I get that you're embarrassed about talking to Dumbledore, but it's really not a big deal, Addy. I'm actually proud of you for getting some help— It takes a lot of courage to admit something like that and he's a—"

"I had him modify my memory," she blurted out, finally looking up at him, holding her breath.

He stared at her blankly for what felt like ages.

Processing.

Then his eyes narrowed.

The butter knife twisted.

"I-I didn't plan on it—He just— I couldn't do it anymore, Siri! It was so _awful_! The dreams they were— were driving me _mad_! Messing with my magic and—"

"You let him... mess... with... your... _memory_?" Sirius spoke through his teeth, words terse and much too quiet—he sounded just like his father.

If he wasn't mad before, he was now.

"Only a little..."

"Only a—only a _little? ONLY A LITTLE?!"_

Adelaide winced. Now he sounded like his mother.

"ADELAIDE, HOW COULD YOU DO SOMETHING SO— SO _STUPID_!"

"Please, don't scream at me!" she begged. "I was _desperate_ , Sirius! I couldn't sleep! I-I didn't know what else to do!"

Sirius inhaled deeply, nostrils flaring, trying to keep his temper under control. "You could have talked to _ME_! Or to Poppy! Hell, even _McGonagall_!"

"I thought you _wanted_ me to talk to Dumbledore! You just said you were proud—"

Sirius ran his hands through his hair, pulling at the roots. "Yeah, before I knew you were running off to have your bloody memory wiped!"

"I didn't have it _wiped_!" she said. "I only had it... re-filed!"

"That makes absolutely no sense!"

"Ugh! It's hard to explain, okay! The dreams are still there... they're just... packed away... Dumbledore made a copy then filed them away—"

"I Don't—A copy?! What— Addy are you saying he made a _copy_ of your dreams?!"

Adelaide hid her face in her hands.

"Adelaide, answer me!"

"It was the only way, Sirius! He said he could keep it safe! He said it would help me get my magic back under control!"

Sirius stared at her in disbelief.

"Who the hell are you and what have you done to my psychotic mistrusting best friend!?"

"Psychotic?!"

"What the actual hell, Addy?! I thought you _hated_ Dumbledore—Now you're letting him have copies of your dreams and mess with your brain?! Did he _drug_ you or something?!"

That thought hadn't actually occurred to her until that moment.

"No—I mean—I don't think so—It was three in the morning, Sirius! And You know how I get when I'm tired and I'd hardly slept in over a week! I didn't really think it all through, okay?! He said he could help me and I went with it! I wasn't even planning on it happening— Gary said he was out of town and if I hadn't been distracted by Madge in the—"

Shit.

"Madge?! What the hell does Madge have to do with any of this—"

"Nothing—"

"Jesus, Addy— _Stop lying to me!"_

Adelaide stared at him. His perfect jaw was clenched. His perfect eyes were cold and hard. His perfect brows were scrunched into a scowl.

It was petty—Completely petty and unhelpful—but the hypocrisy of him getting upset when he was hiding secrets of his own led her to say her next words.

"I'll stop lying when you tell me what was in the letter!"

That caught him off guard.

He blinked and sputtered. "The letter? What letter—?"

"The letter you got on Friday! The one you wouldn't let me read! If you want me to be honest with you then you need to tell me who it was from! I know it wasn't junk mail!"

"That has absolutely nothing to do with this, Addy—"

"Prove it!"

Sirius stared at her, grey eyes darting from one eye to the other and she wished she had practiced legilimency more. "Fine," he said at last, getting off the bed and aggressively rummaging through his trunk.

Adelaide's breath was heavy as she waited, listening as he threw his belongings across the room in a sort of temper tantrum, looking for the letter.

After a few moments, he returned to the bed, shoving a crumpled stack of parchment into her hands.

However, Adelaide didn't look at the letter immediately, she looked at him, watching the way he swallowed nervously, and the vulnerability behind his scowl. Even though they were in the middle of a fight, she had the overwhelming urge to hug him. He looked like he needed a hug.

"Sirius—"

"Read it."

"I didn't mean to—"

He tapped the letter impatiently. "Just read it."

She took a breath then looked down at the crumpled but fancy parchment, turning it so that the words were right side up.

 **Sirius Orion Black III,**

 **Congratulations! I am delighted to inform you of your acceptance into the 1975 St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries Summer Internship Program.**

 **Please respond with your preferred placement as well as the completed permission slip, signed by a parent or guardian by...**

"You... You got the Saint Mungo's internship..." she said, looking up at him. "I— I didn't think— I didn't know you even applied—Sirius, this— this is _amazing_!"

Forgetting their fight entirely, she threw her arms around him, burying her face in his neck, practically in tears she was so proud.

Sirius was stiff and awkward and it took him a few seconds to process what as happening... but when he did, he hugged her in return, fingers running through her hair and down her back. "I didn't think I'd get in..." he said into her hair. "They hardly ever pick fourth years and I didn't want to make a big deal about it—"

Adelaide squirmed— she didn't want him to let her go, quite the contrary, but she needed to see him. "Why didn't you tell me? Why were you keeping it a secret?"

His hand stroked her hair, sweeping it behind her ear. "Because I knew you'd make me do it."

"Hell yeah I'm going to make you do it!" she laughed. "Sirius, this is an amazing opportunity and you'd be an amazing healer!"

He pulled away, unlatching her grip from him as they sat, knees touching upon the bed. "But that's just it, Addy…" He scratched the back of his neck. "A healer…"

Adelaide frowned. "What's wrong with being a healer?"

"Nothing!" he said, running a hand through his hair, making his curls go in all different directions. "It's a perfectly respectable job— just the kind of thing my parents always hoped for—"

And there it was.

The _real_ reason.

"No! NO! You are not about to throw this away all because of what? You're afraid you'll make your stupid parents proud?! Merlin! I can't even believe we're having this conversation right now!"

"Addy—"

"NO! This is ridiculous!" Adelaide snatched the letter and stormed towards his desk, fumbling through the rubbish for a quill.

"What are you doing?!"

"I'm filling out the stupid paperwork for you, you dolt."

"WHAT? _NO_!"

Adelaide had only just dipped the quill in his ink when he came after her.

"Give it back!" he said furiously, chasing her down.

His newly found hight advantage made him much swifter than he used to be.

"No!" she yelped, scurrying over James's bed, hopping over a pile of laundry and finally, barricading herself in the bathroom, slamming the door right in his face.

"Addy, you have no right to—!"

"Now, would you rather work with spell damage, poisoning, or magical bugs?"

"Adelaide, this isn't funny!"

"I'm leaning towards poisoning, just because of your background with potions but—"

"Seriously, Addy! I already told you I didn't want to do it!"

Adelaide ignored him, looking over the other forms. "Did you know you get paid for this? No wonder Lily was excited… She got in too, you know—"

"Addy, open the door before I—"

And that's when she read the rest of the placement list… and a plan bloomed in her crazy little brain. She smirked, then opened the door, hitting Sirius in the nose.

She winced, hiding behind the parchment. "Sorry!"

He held his nose, glaring at her. "Can I have that back now?"

Adelaide hid the parchment behind her back, out of his reach. "First, let me tell you my brilliant plan."

Sirius sighed. "Addy, I'm really not in the mood for anymore of this—"

"I promise I can change your mind! Just hear me out!"

He looked at her for a long moment, then sighed— probably realizing she was too stubborn to let this go until she'd said her peace. "Fine. Speak."

"Four words. Ward for Serious Bites." She bit her lip to keep from grinning. "It's got your name written all over it!"

Sirius rolled his eyes at her pun. "Clever. But I don't understand how dealing with a bunch of gnome bites is going to—"

"No—Sirius… Ward for Serious Bites… Also known as the 'Werewolf division'."

He blinked.

"You want to piss off your parents, right?" she said, smiling. "What better way than to tend to a bunch of newly turned werewolves right under their noses?"

Sirius stood, mouth open much too long for Adelaide's liking, then suddenly scooped her up into a hug, pulling her up off the ground. "I _knew_ you were brilliant!" he laughed.

Adelaide giggled breathlessly as he gingerly returned her to the floor and ran to start filling-out the return paperwork at his desk, beaming.

As she watched him part of her couldn't help but feel restless… unsettled… "Um… Sirius?" she said, fiddling with the hem of her Beatles t-shirt.

He glanced back at her, happy as could be. "Yeah?"

"Are— Are you still mad at me?" she asked.

His face fell… their fight clouding his temporary, rebellion-fueled bliss. He set down the quill and turned to face her. "Well… I guess it depends… Are you keeping any other secrets from me?"

Ugh…

"Well I have a theory that Madge might be part mermaid," she said with a forced smile. "But that's about it." Her awkward chuckle hung in the air.

The mermaid thing didn't seem to surprise him as much as it surprised her, but maybe that was for the best.

"Well then, no," he said at long last. "No, I'm not mad at you anymore."

Adelaide let out a breath she didn't know she was holding.

"And— and I'm sorry I was so cross…" he said quietly.

"Me too…"

He nodded. "No more secrets, alright?" he said, grey eyes pleading. "We're supposed to be on the same team…"

"No more secrets…" Adelaide agreed. "I solemnly swear."


	103. 103

**103– Soirée**

Lily Evans returned to the bustling, chattering common room Monday evening after spending the worst time with Severus in recent history.

It started out well enough. They were sitting by the lake that afternoon, chit chatting about odd potion ingredients and how people discovered their properties ("someone really looked at a mandrake and thought to themselves—'ah, yes. This screaming plant shall do nicely in my cure for conjunctivitis.'") and things were lovely. Almost like they were at their favorite park back home.

Then Avery and his goons showed up.

It wasn't anything out of the ordinary. Normal run of the mill teasing (though Mulciber did seemed extra creepy). Yet, it left her asking the question she'd been asking for ages —how could Severus hang round with Avery and his gang when they were so obviously bad news?

It was mild teasing and leering looks that day, yes. But then again, Severus was with her. How would they have treated her if she was alone?

"Sev, I just don't understand," she had told him as Avery stalked back to the castle, no doubt to prank some Hufflepuffs or something equally despicable. "They're just _dreadful_..."

Severus pursed his lips, watching them as they walked off as well. "Funny you find them so terrible when you'll hang about with Potter and his pathetic gang."

Lily repressed an eye roll. "Potter has absolutely nothing to do with this conversation, Sev."

"You're judging my friends—seems only fair that I judge yours as well."

"Your _friends_ are bigoted toerags, Sev. And—and I'm not _friends_ with-with _Potter."_ She sounded more like a bratty toddler than she was aiming for. "Not like you are with Avery anyways!" she added.

Why had she said that? Why couldn't she just say she wasn't friends with Potter and left it at that?

Severus leapt on her words, scowling. "Potter is a _swine—_ strutting through the castle like he owns it—"

"Oh, like Avery's any better—"

"—You shouldn't be friends with him _at all_!"

She stared at him for a beat then turned on her heel, stalking toward the castle, fuming.

"Lily—Lils, Wait!"

A hand clasped around her wrist and Lily whipped around to face him. "Don't _touch_ me! And _don't_ tell me what to do!"

He released her wrist immediately. "I—I wasn't—I didn't—"

"Yes you _did_! You _always_ do this!" she said through her teeth, fists balled up. So many repressed feelings were bubbling up to the surface, burning her throat like acid. "You think you know everything that's best for me, tell me what to do, who I should be friends with—but anytime I try to talk to you about _your_ friends you won't even listen—you turn it all on me and how I'm a horrible person for being _friends_ with James when I hardly even see him! I'm sick of it, Sev! I'm not the bad guy here!"

"And I _am_?!"

"No, of course not! But _Avery_ is! Reggie says that all he and his friends talk about is Dark Magic! They're all obsessed with it, Sev!" she said shrilly, gesturing at the direction Avery and his gang had stalked off. "Not to mention how they treat anyone who isn't pureblood—The names they call them! How can you be friends and not have it rub off on you!?"

"Because I'm not _like_ them, Lily," he said, words cold and slicing. "I thought _you_ of all people would know I'm swayed by the thoughts and opinions of those around me."

" _Clearly_."

Severus narrowed his eyes but his face paled.

Lily tossed her hair over her shoulder. " _Clearly_ , nothing I say—none of my _opinions_ are going to sway you—so how about we call it a day."

It was childish and immature, but she didn't wait for him to reply.

She simply stomped back up to the castle, ignoring his calls for her to stop.

Which was how she ended up standing in the bustling common room ready to do some aggressive cleaning in the girls dormitory. She learned after her fight with Petunia before Christmas that she needed healthy outlets for her anger, and it wouldn't hurt to scrub down the dormitory before summer; it seemed like a perfect plan.

Only thing standing in her way was James Potter.

Literally.

Instead of lounging by the fire with his friends, James had somehow appeared directly in Lily's path. And as if that wasn't bad enough, he ruffled the back of his hair with that infuriating crooked grin of his and said, "Hullo, Evans! How're you doing this fine—!"

"Move, Potter."

His face fell for a fraction of a second, then returned to his crooked grin. He took a minuscule step backwards.

"I said _move_."

He smirked then did what she guessed was a wiggling dance move (though it looked more like he had a billywig fly up his shirt), pushing his glasses up his nose.

She frowned with purpose. She refused to let him know that he looked the least bit adorable and goofy.

"Not a fan of that move, eh? Shall I try another?" he laughed, taking on a disco jig.

He looked absolutely ridiculous and it was getting harder to not smile.

Across the room, Finley Bell giggled at him. He flashed her a wink.

Finley blushed.

Lily suddenly found it much easier to scowl again.

James wasn't even paying attention when Lily shoved past him... but Adelaide was, and gave Lily an odd look from where she sat cuddled up at Sirius's side reading upon the loveseat. Naturally, this didn't improve Lily's mood.

She really needed to dust some banisters.

"Evans! Wait!" James had stopped flirting with Finley long enough to realize Lily was making headway toward the dormitory and clambered to stop her. Just a few more steps and she would have made it to the stairs and been in the clear, but he blocked her path. "You're not headed to bed already, are you?"

"No," she ground out, trying and failing to lunge past him.

"So you're coming tonight?"

"What?"

"Tonight? You're coming, right? Addy got these sweets that made your face turn into different animals—Peter ate two at once wound up—"

"What are you talking about?"

"The sweets? Addy had pugface send them in all the way from Bulgaria for the soirée—They're technically banned here but that's only because—"

Lily threw her head back in frustration.

The party.

The stupid end of term party he and his friends were throwing. How could she have forgotten? It's all anyone had been taking about for days.

"I'm not going to your stupid party, Potter."

"Soirée," he corrected.

She tried once again to shove past him, but he put his hands on either shoulder to stop her. "Let me go!"

"Wait... something's wrong..." He wasn't smiling anymore.

"Yes! You won't let me _go_!" She tried to get out of his grip but he wouldn't budge.

"No... something's _actually_ wrong... did something happen?"

She stared him down. Angry at his powers of perception. Angry that he wouldn't let her go. Angry that he was prying into her life. Angry that his stupid eyelashes were so pretty. Angry that he had the audacity to be so concerned. "Don't you have a party to prepare for?" she spat.

"Soirée," James corrected once again. "And Remus has it covered—Lily, did something happen when you were with Snivellus?"

That horrible name was what gave her the strength she needed to free herself from his clutches. "Just leave me alone!" she demanded, stomping up the stairs.

* * *

"Reg, you have to go."

Regulus lazily lowered the book he was reading to peer over the top at his intruder. "No, I don't."

Evan's eyes were more green than blue in the hazy light of Slytherin dormitory, steps purposeful as he approached the bed. "But I _need_ you there—"

"You're a big boy, Rosier," said Regulus, raising the book to its original state. "I'm sure you'll manage well enough on your own—"

Evan yanked the book out of his hands, snapping it shut without marking his page.

"Hey!"

"Addy invited _both_ of us!" Evan said, raising the book up in the air.

Regulus leaned back against the headboard to sulk. "Yeah... well we both know you're just going to run off to try to snog Mary first chance you get... which leaves me where? Alone to deal with a bunch of nosey, obnoxious Gryffindors? No, thank you."

Of course, that was only _part_ of the truth. What Regulus didn't say—what Evan didn't need to know—was that he was afraid he would run into Marlene... No. Not afraid. Excited. But that was even worse.

Fortunately, the 'snogging Mary' comment did its job and left Evan a sputtering, incoherent mess. "I won't—I haven't—she isn't—I—Ugh! Black, go to the bloody party with me!"

"No can do, cousin. Ask Madge."

"Already did," Evan grumbled. "Said she'd only go to the party if you did—"

"Party?" sneered a voice from the door. "What party?"

Michael Avery walked in flanked by Ugly One and Ugly Two (Aka Mulciber and Wilkes), fresh from jinxing some Hufflepuff first years.

Regulus clenched his jaw. "Need something, Avery?"

Avery smiled unpleasantly, glaring down his pointed nose at their empty dormitory while his _friends_ lurked beside him (Mulciber did his best to avoid eye contact with Evan). "Looking for Charles, seen him around anywhere?"

"No... Probably caught one whiff of you lot and ran off," Regulus said cooly. "Smart lad."

"You better watch your tongue, Black," Avery said, eyes flashing.

If Avery wanted to fight, so be it. Regulus would have loved an excuse to hex his nose into a carrot. "Or what? You'll sic your stupid friends after me? Tattle-tale to the Dark Lord that I was mean to you—?"

"You insolent little—"

"Alright, mates. That's enough," Evan said, standing between them.

Avery's lip curled, breaths heavy as he looked between Regulus and Evan.

Avery acted tough, but at the end of the day, no one messed with Evan. Why? Regulus didn't know for sure, but he suspected Evan possessed some highly incriminating blackmail on Avery and his goons. After a few moments, Avery swung the door open and stomped out, muttering curses under his breath with a rattled Wilkes close behind.

Mulciber hung back, leering at Evan. "Have fun with your slag girlfriend tonight, Rosier—"

"Ten points from Slytherin," Evan said without missing a beat, face stone cold like cut marble—if marble could have a tan, that was.

Mulciber's eyebrows shot up and he opened his mouth. "You can't—"

"I _can_ , actually. Do you want to make it twenty?" Evan challenged.

Mulciber wanted Slytherin to win the cup as much as anyone and stormed out of the dormitory, even more upset than Avery.

When they were gone, Regulus snatched his book out of Evan's hands when he wasn't looking. "You should've hexed him for talking about Mary like that."

"Yeah, and make her even more of a target?" Evan said, taking a seat on the bed. "Bad enough everyone thinks we're dating."

"Aren't you though?" Regulus smirked.

Evan's face colored a bit. "I told you we're just friends."

"Friends who want to snog each-other."

"And you'd know all about that, wouldn't you?"

Regulus's stomach flipped. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Evan studied the bed hangings. "I know I'm an idiot and all... but you're my best mate—you really think I haven't noticed?"

Regulus's was mildly worried that his heart had skipped a beat, but he kept his cool. "Noticed what?"

"You keep disappearing all hours of the night... get all moony eyed every time you look at the Gryffindor table... and now you're avoiding this party like you're afraid you'll get dragon pox or something."

He knew nothing. There was no way he could know. But when in doubt, deny everything. "Listen, I don't know what you think is going on, Ev, but I promise it's not what you think."

Evan finally turned to face him, frowning. "So, there's nothing going on between you and a certain off-limits Gryffindor?"

Regulus shook his head, trying to keep his face impassive. "Nope."

Evan didn't believe him. "Then there's no real reason why you can't come to the party tonight."

"Other than the fact that I don't want to?"

"That one doesn't count."

Regulus rolled his eyes. "You're sure Madge is going?"

"As long as you do."

Regulus had a feeling he was going to regret his next words. "Fine—if Madge is there I'll go—but you owe me, Rosier!"

* * *

"This—was supposed to be—a _Soirée_! A _small_ —formal—gathering!" James cried out later that evening over the booming music. "Who even are these people?!"

Mary popped a fudge fly in her mouth and surveyed the crowd of people.

Apparently, word of the game night soirée had reached far beyond the original guest list—which was large to begin with. Students from most of the upper years and nearly every house had somehow snuck in through an open window and were all going absolutely bananas in the Marauders Dormitory. Though, by first glance, you might not have known it was the boys' dormitory.

Some mad genius had cast an illegal extension charm on the room (probably Sirius) and all around there were 'refreshments' some older kids brought in and muggle board games. The walls and ceiling were decorated with twinkling fairy lights, disco balls, streamers, balloons, _piñatas_ filled with contraband candy, and great billowing scarlet drapes that Mary was sure were actually bed hangings. It was festive, sure, but it had the uncoordinated, chaotic aesthetic which screamed that it had been decorated by boys. A girl, especially one with Adelaide's artistic eye, would have stuck to a single theme, and perhaps added some flowers.

Actually, flowers might have been a nice touch—maybe it would have covered the stench of body odor and firewhiskey.

Mary stood on her tiptoes to get a better view. "Mmm... Well Peter's over there eating brownies with Davey and Jack—and there's Blair with Benji... snogging, of course—and I think that's Amelia with Remus dancing in the conga line—pretty sure she came with her brother and that annoying girl, _Annabelle_..."

"See Lily anywhere?" he asked, squinting around the room. He was a little taller than her, and thus had a better view, but the disco ball caused a glare in his glasses.

"No..." she said, eating another fudge fly. "But she might be waiting for Marlene."

James frowned, side stepping a cocker spaniel sized elephant wearing a Greek helmet with blue plumage. It came trumpeting between their legs, galloping toward the fondu fountain.

"Anyone else we know?" he asked, stealing one of her fudge flies.

Mary smirked. "Well... of course there's Gaspard Shingleton."

James sighed dramatically then stole some more fudge flies and shoved them in his mouth. "You invited him, didn't you?"

Mary laughed. "Last night of the bet, Potter, can you blame me? I invited Finley too, just for good measure."

James's eyes brightened, looking around the room. "Finley's here?"

Something about his enthusiasm for the Gryffindor seeker annoyed Mary, but she didn't have time to dwell on why. Her eye caught on a group of people across the room. "Well shite on a stick... how'd _they_ get in?"

"Who—" James followed her gaze. "Oh boy..."

Toward the back of the magically gigantifide dormitory, between the monopoly table and butterbeer tree, were a few of the most unwelcome guests: Lydia Green and Michael Avery, with Wilkes and Mulciber lurking behind.

"Think they came together?" James asked.

"Ick! As if! Lydia's probably stalking Sirius!"

James's head swiveled in every direction, brows furrowed. "Where _is_ Sirius?"

"Last I saw, he and Addy were cuddled up in the corner reading those muggle jewelry books ," she said quickly.

James looked as if he had been slapped.

"What?" Mary bristled.

"I cannot believe you just called 'Lord of the Rings' 'Those Muggle Jewelry Books'...it's... it's blasphemy."

"You're such a nerd." Mary rolled her eyes. "Look, we need get Avery and them out of here before—"

"Potts!" squealed a girl behind them. Mary turned and saw a slender third year girl, not much taller than Adelaide. She had dirty blonde hair, wide set brown eyes, and an upturned nose running towards them, plastic cup sloshing something amber and sticky onto the floor. She was wearing a short, red tartan dress and teetered in platform heels.

"Great party!" she laughed, placing a hand on James's arm for balance.

"Soirée," Mary corrected flatly.

James smiled back, looking stupider than usual. "Thanks, Finley," he chuckled, using his other hand to muss up the back of his hair and scratch his neck.

Finley kept smiling at him then must have realized Mary was there too. "Oh! Hey McDonald! Having fun?" she giggled.

Mary half-heartedly forced a smile. "Loads." It would have been more fun if Evan hadn't been taking his dear sweet time getting there... but that would have been a downer to say.

Finley turned back to James. Her hand was still on his arm. "Um... well I just wanted to say great job... with all this, you know... it's amazing."

The ego boost improved James's posture. "Thanks, but it wasn't all me... you know... the guys and... and Addy, of course..."

Finley was craning her neck up at him, hanging on to every word he said—though she might have just been having trouble hearing him over the music blasting. A new song began and she squealed, spilling her drink again. "Oh! I love this song! _Bye bye baby! Baby goodbye!"_ She sang loudly and off key, shaking her hips with her eyes closed, really feeling the music... then she pulled James away and into the crowd. "Come on, Potts! Dance with me!"

"Oh—I—Uh—okay, yeah—" he replied intelligently.

"Wait! Jamie! What about Avery?!" Mary called, but Finley had already drug him out of ear shot into the mosh pit. She sighed, placing the bag of fudge flies on some random table. "I guess I'll just have to deal with the rodent infestation myself..."

* * *

"I thought this was supposed to be a glorified game night?" Madge yelled over the music as Regulus helped her climb off the broom and through the tower window.

"It was— _Is_ —"

"Then why are there so many people?!"

"How should I know?!" he said just as a Ravenclaw girl in his year ran right into him, giggling and getting sticky punch all over his jacket. "Oi! Watch it!"

The girl flipped him off and ran off to her friends.

This was a mistake.

"We should find Mary," Evan said. "I told her I'd be here an hour ago."

Madge teased Evan about how all the prime snogging spots were probably taken as they made their way towards the middle for a better vantage point.

That's when Regulus saw her.

Not Mary, but another girl who practically glowed in the light of the sparkling disco chandelier.

Marlene.

She was wearing a blue dress—she always looked really good in blue—and her honey blond hair was different, fancier, and she was wearing a lot more make up than usual but it looked good. And to make everything worse, she was smiling. She was so pretty it was almost unbearable.

Then she disappeared... hand in hand with Hufflepuff, Edgar Bones...

"There's, Lupin!" Madge said loudly. "In the conga line! If we hurry we can see if he knows where she is!"

"Who?" Regulus said.

"Mary!" Madge replied as if he was an idiot. "Come on!"

* * *

This was a mistake.

Lily didn't know what she expected when she walked into the boys' dormitory that night. Perhaps she thought she'd see Adelaide and Sirius bickering/snogging over monopoly, or Mary and Peter with the faces of koalas or Turtles from Adelaide's weird foreign candies, or maybe James and Remus pigging out on butterbeer and Jack's special brownies— something sensible.

She didn't know she would be stepping into utter chaos.

There were an impossible amount of people— students from nearly every house, all dressed to the nines and bumbling around to muggle pop music imitating from where Remus's bed should have been.

And there _she_ was. Standing in her pink nightgown and favorite deer socks holding James's patched up wool blanket.

The blanket was only an excuse. Truth be told, she felt bad about how she'd treated James earlier. He was only trying to be nice and she didn't like the idea of leaving things on a bad note between them. The plan was to apologize and return the blanket then go back to her newly spotless dorm... Okay and _maybe_ she would stay chat with him for a little bit... _maybe_... and just for a little bit... out of politeness.

Unfortunately, this looked like it was going to be a lot harder than expected.

She clutched the blanket to her chest and tried to weave her way through the crowd towards the back of the room. If she could just find his bed, maybe she could shove it in his trunk and leave a note. Problem was, she couldn't find his bed or his trunk... or the back of the room for that matter.

The extension charm had her all out of sorts and the constant barrage of people ramming into her, stepping on her toes, and spilling drinks didn't help. Before long she was shoved into a mosh pit, using the blanket to bump people away from her.

"Lily? Lily!" someone called.

Lily looked around helplessly for the source, but only ended up getting stepped on.

"Ow!"

"Lily! I didn't know you were—what the _hell_ are you wearing?!" Marlene shouted, aghast... and also hand in hand with Edgar Bones.

Odd.

Was _he_ her mystery lad?

"I—I'm not staying!" Lily said whilst Marlene led them out of the mosh pit towards a less crowded spot near an abandoned bag of fudge flies.

Marlene's eyes scanned all over Lily in that analyzing way of hers, stopping on the blanket. "Why do you have a blanket?"

"Maybe she was—" Edgar began.

Marlene cut him off with a wave of her hand. "Shut up, Ed. Lils, what's up with the blanket? You realize this isn't a slumber party right—Edgar, shut up."

"I didn't even say anything!"

"You were thinking it. And it was gross."

Edgar looked equal parts abashed and impressed. "Maybe I should go grab us a drink?"

Marlene hardly looked at him, waving him off with a "yeah, yeah... sure," still trying to solve the puzzle of Lily's odd party attire.

Surely this couldn't be the same boy who wrote her sweet notes and made her blush...

"What are you doing with _Edgar_?" Lily asked.

Marlene's eyes flickered away, the way they sometimes did when she was hiding something... "I—he—I was—" she stammered then stopped abruptly. Her eyes narrowed on something behind Lily. "Better question is... what the hell is Potter doing with _her_?"

Confused, Lily turned.

Then her stomach sank.

James.

She finally found James.

Only... he was with Finley Bell.

Dancing.

They were dancing.

Dancing _closely_.

He and Finley were so close together they _almost_ looked like they were...

No.

Not _almost_.

They _were_.

They were snogging.

Snogging and dancing.

James and Finley.

The blanket fell to the floor.

And Lily ran.

* * *

"Stupid effing boys..." Marlene muttered savagely, elbowing her way through the crowded party with practiced efficiency. She approached the two people she'd been searching for. "Oi! Love birds!"

They both turned, eyes glossed over and lost and trying to piece together what was going on outside of their little worlds.

Sirius was the first to speak, not even bothering to close his book. "Need something Marls?"

Adelaide re-adjusted from where she was tucked cozily against his side. How and why those two could possibly be calmly reading their stupid books in the midst of the wildest party of the school year was a mystery to her.

"I need _you_ to talk some sense to your idiot of a best mate," Marlene began, jabbing an accusatorial finger at Sirius before turning on Adelaide. "And I need _you_ to talk to Lily."

Adelaide sat up, neatly placing a bookmark between her pages. Sirius sat up as well, sloppily dog-earring his own. His utter disrespect towards books made Marlene nauseated.

"What's he done this time?" Sirius sighed, tossing both their books over to his bed.

Marlene opened her mouth, drew breath, and was about to relate Potter's idiocy in graphic detail when another, out of breath voice interrupted her.

"Addy! _There_ you are—been looking— _everywhere_!" the person wheezed.

Marlene's head whipped towards them at the same time Adelaide spoke, "Reggie? You alright?"

"Looks like _someone_ should be doing more sprints during Quidditch practice," Sirius sniggered under his breath.

Regulus shot him a rather rude hand gesture, his other hand rested on his knees as he caught his breath. "I know it must be difficult, but could you please stop being an arsehole for two seconds and—" His words faltered when he noticed who was standing beside him.

At first he seemed pleasantly bemused, then a thought flashed in his eyes and he stood up straight, holding himself too rigidly. Face impassive. "McKinnon."

Marlene straighten her posture as well, remembering to when she saw him arrive—with Madge freaking Farley, of all people. "Black."

He didn't reply.

He didn't look away.

And never one to be beaten, neither did Marlene.

This silent staring match went on for an embarrassing about of time.

"Okaaayyyy... so this is totally not awkward at all..." Sirius said gulping down some drink out of a cup. Probably alcoholic, judging by the weird face he made afterwords. Funny... Marlene never saw him as the drinking type.

Adelaide frowned, first at him, taking the cup away and putting it on the floor (he didn't seem all that disappointed), then at Marlene and Regulus. She looked like a tiny disappointed parent. "What do you need, Reggie?"

"Help finding Mary."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Shes probably off with Evan—"

Regulus shook his head. "She's not. Evan can't find her and now he's convinced something's happened to her."

"Maybe she went to bed?" said Adelaide.

"This early?" Sirius said. "Have you talked to James? They were hanging out earlier maybe he—"

"I know for a _fact_ she isn't with Potter," Marlene said, words sharp.

Regulus, for the briefest moment seemed concerned, but then turned back to Adelaide and Sirius. "She's right. He wasn't with her—I tried to talk to him but he was... well..."

"Preoccupied?" Marlene supplied.

"Drunk," Regulus corrected.

Adelaide's eyes just about popped out of her head. Marlene thought it might have been a trick of the light, but she swore the cup Sirius had been drinking before disappeared from the floor with a flex of her little hand.

Sirius seemed only slightly more composed. "Sorry? He's _what_?"

"Pissed drunk," Regulus explained matter-of-factly. "Kept laughing like a nutter—could hardly have a conversation at all."

Sirius ran a hand through his hair. "Shit..."

"Well that would explain why he had his tongue down Finley Bell's throat earlier," Marlene added airily. Just like Potter to get himself plastered and turn into a total slut...

Sirius groaned as if the very thought of his best mate making a fool of himself brought him physical pain.

Adelaide looked similarly dismayed, though more disgusted. Then Marlene's previous words sunk in. "Oh no... Lily... Marls, _please_ tell me Lily didn't—didn't see him..." She couldn't even finish the sentence.

Marlene rolled her eyes. "Okay, she didn't see him snogging Finley senseless then run away."

"Really?"

"No! _Jesus_! I thought you were smart! She saw the whole thing then bolted back to the dorms! That's why you need to pause book club and go talk to her!"

"Look, no disrespect to Lily, but I think she can handle herself," Regulus said impatiently. "I'm really worried about Mary. She was so excited about seeing Evan and it doesn't seem right that she'd disappear..."

Sirius frowned. "Have you talked to Remus? What about Peter?"

"Peter's been eating Jack's brownies with Davey..." Adelaide said, mostly to Sirius. "I doubt either of them could tell the difference between a unicorn from a donkey right now..."

"Do all of your friends have substance abuse problems?" Regulus's said, shaking his head.

Sirius tightened his jaw. "Have you talked to Remus?"

"Madge did," Regulus replied. Marlene crossed her arms over her chest. "He said he saw her headed towards the butterbeer tree, which we checked, of course, but she wasn't there."

"Look, Reggie... I know Evan's worried and all... but I'm sure Mary's fine," Adelaide said calmly, coming off a little patronizing. "She's got a lot of friends in other houses and she loves stuff like this. She's probably off mingling or whatever. She'll turn up eventually..." She began getting up. "But we need to deal with James before he screws up anymore."

"Sirius can deal with James. You need to talk to Lily," Marlene said.

Adelaide frowned. "You were there? Why haven't you gone and talked to her?"

Marlene hesitated and the Black brothers looked intrigued. Well, Sirius did. Regulus looked grumpy. She didn't enjoy admitting weakness... especially in front of an audience, but she was really backed into a corner here. "I—I don't _do_ pep-talks, Ads. I'm not... I'm not good with that stuff."

"She's right. She's rubbish," Sirius said with a knowing nod, probably thinking back to all the times he'd talked to her about his crush on Adelaide.

He was right of course, but Marlene rose her chin in pride. "Yet, was I ever wrong in my advice?"

"No," he said easily. "You were just scary when you gave it. Addy, you're better with heartbreak."

"Gee thanks," she laughed awkwardly. "Okay... fine... So I'll go explain to Lily that James screwed up. Make sure she doesn't start obsessively scrubbing the ceiling again. And Sirius, you'll deal with James—"

"But what about Mary!" Regulus interrupted. "Ads, I have a bad feeling that something—"

"I know, but I'm sure she's fine," Adelaide insisted. Regulus frowned and she spoke again before he could protest. "But I'll look for her when I go after Lily, alright?"

Regulus hesitated... then begrudgingly nodded.

Sirius quickly went off in the direction Regulus had last seen James, giggling and charming herd of miniature elephants, and Adelaide to the girls' dormitory.

Leaving Regulus and Marlene alone.

There must have been a charm around that area of the room to keep the party noise from disturbing Adelaide and Sirius's reading... because it was quiet.

Eerily and awkwardly quiet.

Marlene wanted to leave... every fiber of her being screamed to get away from the uncomfortable position she'd found herself in... but she also wanted answers...

Well, mostly she wanted to know why the hell he was with Madge.

Ultimately though, Regulus was the first to speak.

"I'd ask you to help me look for Mary," he began, not meeting her eyes. "But I'm sure you have to get back to your... _date_."

Marlene rounded to face him fully. "My _what_?"

He rolled his eyes bitterly. "I saw you with Edgar."

Marlene laughed... perhaps a little too loudly... verging on hysteric. "That creep cling-on is _not_ my date! But it shouldn't matter to you if he _was_ —you've got Farley after all—"

"Madge?! You think— _Madge_?! Merlin!" He threw his hands in the air. "I _told_ you she's my friend, Marlene. _Just_ my friend!"

"And yet you came here with her."

"Yeah, so I'd have someone to hang out with when Evan ditched me for Mary—Which, he has thus far been unable to do since she's missing!"

Marlene ignored the latter half of his sentence. "You knew I'd be here."

"Yeah, which is why I almost didn't come."

It felt like a punch to the gut. She turned around before she made even more of an idiot out of herself.

Regulus caught her by the wrist, hand gently tugging her back, his skin burning against hers. "I—I didn't mean it like that... I just... I meant that I knew I'd see you here... and if I didn't have someone else to hang out with I'd probably end up finding you..."

"Oh, wow. That makes me feel so much better. Thanks for clarifying."

He ran a hand over his face. "I meant that I _wanted_ to see you. I _wanted_ to hang out with you... but I knew that it would be a bad idea... and I didn't want to embarrass you by outing that—that we—you know..."

"Snogged?"

His face turned a little pink, but he didn't break eye-contact, wordlessly conveying that it had been more than just a couple of random snogs.

They meant something.

The two of them were something.

Which was the embarrassing part.

For both of them.

"Okay, so you're saying is that you brought Madge as what? Marlene Repellent?" she said grumpily. She realized how silly she sounded the second the words left her mouth.

The corners of his mouth twitched.

Then her mouth twitched.

Then he snorted.

Then she laughed.

And within seconds they were both laughing at the pure ridiculousness that was that night.

"So, was Edgar your Regulus Repellent?" he asked, still trying to calm his guffaw.

She shrugged. "I suppose. I saw you with her and he'd been stalking me so I just rolled with it. He's a total creep though, no competition there."

Regulus raised an eyebrow. "I didn't realize I was competing."

She smiled coyly. "They never do..."

He laughed and playfully nudged her shoulder. And just like that, they were back to normal. Back to how they were when they were at their best. Laughing. Joking. Comfortable.

Then he sighed, plopping himself down on the love seat where Adelaide and Sirius had been curled up. It was so out of the way of the rest of the party, probably by design, that no one took any notice.

He patted the space beside him and without so much as a backwards glance, Marlene sat, pressed cozily against his side.

They were so cliche that it normally would make her hurl, but at that moment, she couldn't find a single reason against being at his side.

A small voice in the back of her skull whispered that it was her last chance for a long time to enjoy having him alone and beside her. Might as well make the most of it.

"I'm still worried about Mary," he said quietly, hand somehow intertwining in hers.

"I gathered that. But you know Mary can handle herself—"

He sighed deeply, brows furrowing.

Marlene squeezed his hand. "Unless there's something else that you're not telling me..."

He looked uncomfortable.

Like he had a secret begging to be let out.

"There is something else," she stated. "Regulus, what happened?"

"It's—it's probably nothing..." he said quickly. "But I think Avery overheard about us going to the party... and then Mulciber said something... about Mary... and now she's missing and... I've just got a bad feeling about the whole thing."

Marlene's stomach sank. "You think they crashed the party? That they would what?—prank her?"

Regulus looked uncomfortable again. "Not Avery—he only cares about Addy... but Mulciber... he—well he's a creepy bloke. I don't trust him. I just thought after Evan yelled at him he'd—"

"Rosier yelled at him?!"

Regulus looked up. "He slammed him against the wall and called him inbred scum when he said he was going to make a move on her."

Marlene let out a breath. Who knew Rosier had it in him?

"Though, I'd probably do worse if he talked that way about you," Regulus added.

"Am I supposed to find your hypothetical violence romantic?" she scoffed, playing with his fingers.

He raised an eyebrow. "Do you?"

"Absolutely."

He laughed then he sighed.

Marlene met his eyes, cool grey in the illuminating light of the reading lamp, hovering over them. "You really think something's happened?"

He gulped. "I do."

Marlene heaved a great sigh then hoisted herself up from the loveseat, away from his warmth, and reached out a hand. "Well then let's go track her down, Snakey."

* * *

"Lils?" Adelaide said, creaking the girls' dormitory door open.

Lily was on the newly waxed floor, still wearing her pink nightgown, auburn hair up in a messy bun with tendrils falling in her face. She was furiously scrubbing Adelaide's trunk with a toothbrush. Better than the ceiling, Adelaide thought.

"Lily?" she said once more, approaching calmly and sitting down beside her on the floor.

Lily didn't look up, but she did frown, scrubbing becoming more aggressive.

"Lily, are you alright?" Adelaide asked. It was a stupid question, but what else was she supposed to say? " _Lily? Are you terribly heartbroken and ready to admit you fancy James?"_

Lily paused scrubbing for a moment, then continued. "I'm fine, thank you, Addy."

She sounded so eerily calm. Her voice didn't match her outward state in the least.

"So you're not... upset?" Adelaide asked, eying the toothbrush carefully.

Lily let out a humorless laugh. "Oh, I'm upset alright."

Okay... they were making some progress.

Adelaide scooted closer. "Wanna talk about it?"

"Nothing to say, really," Lily frowned. "It's the same fight we always have. I'll get over it."

Now, Adelaide couldn't be certain, but she was reasonably sure Lily and James hadn't fought about him kissing another girl before... unless they had some secret disagreement when he fake dated Marlene earlier that year.

"I know it doesn't make it any better..." Adelaide began, "but Reggie said he was drunk... I doubt it meant anything."

Now Lily looked up. She didn't seem like she was about to cry or anything... so that was good. But she did have a hardness to her eyes, a stubborn willfulness that Adelaide didn't often see. "Severus was drunk?"

Adelaide blinked. "What?"

"You said he was drunk."

"Yeah... James..."

Lily acted as if the name had no meaning to her then went back to scrubbing. "Oh, I was talking about Severus... Your trunk is really filthy, Ads... Why is your trunk so filthy?"

Adelaide didn't think her trunk was filthy in the slightest. "Lily, I talked to Marls. I know you saw James and Finley."

"Lovely."

She didn't sound sarcastic. She sounded like she was trying to politely end the conversation.

"Lils... it's okay if you're upset."

"Why would I be upset?" Lily said evenly, though her hands seemed to grip the toothbrush a little tighter, going after a rusted metal edge of Adelaide's trunk. "Potter is a single teenage boy and at perfect liberty to kiss whomever he pleases. Finley is a sweet girl and she obviously thinks the world of him. I have no reason to be upset."

Adelaide sighed. "You have a reason, Lils... you know you have."

"I don't."

"You fancy him."

Lily froze and Adelaide briefly wondered if she'd pushed things too far. Lily wasn't the type to hex people... but everyone had their days.

"Are you worried about going back home?" Lily asked, changing the subject entirely. Adelaide noticed that she didn't deny that she fancied him.

"A little," Adelaide answered truthfully. "You?"

Lily snorted in a very un-Lily way. "No. Petunia has a new boyfriend... At least that's what mum said. She'll be gone a lot, I suppose."

Adelaide nodded and tucked her hair behind her ears, unsure of what to say. Why had Marlene made her come up here? Why did they think she was good at this stuff? She felt useless.

"I know you're worried," Lily blurted out. "But I'm really—I'm really fine with—with James, you know."

Adelaide peered up at Lily—she was finally looking at her properly.

"It's okay if you aren't," she said softly.

Lily blinked rapidly, eyes watering, but she seemed to have swallowed down the tears. "It was... unexpected... seeing them... but not, at the same time."

Adelaide didn't say anything, but she did scoot closer, listening carefully.

"I knew she fancied him... it's obvious... and I knew he liked the attention... or maybe her... and I was awful to him tonight... I'm always so awful to him... so I really shouldn't be—I shouldn't care if he— I don't don't have a right to be—to be—"

"Jealous?" Adelaide supplied.

Lily grimaced and threw the toothbrush across the room, making it ping against Mary's trunk and clatter onto the wooden floors. "He's _awful_! I don't want to—I didn't know I—I..."

"You didn't know how much you cared about him until now...?" Adelaide said.

Lily looked as if she was physically in pain and Adelaide really wanted to hug her. But Lily was also a tad violent at the moment. Maybe not the best time.

"He constantly pranks and belittles my best friend. What kind of sick person gets feelings for someone like that?"

Adelaide wanted to say something about how her 'best friend' was a sketchy piece of shit. But that wouldn't help matters. "People aren't all good and all bad, Lils. Yes, James is an idiot. He does stupid stuff for stupid reasons, tonight being case in point. But he's also a really sweet, kind person and a loyal friend... and I'm not just saying that because he's my honorary big brother."

Lily ran her hands through her hair, which made it look more messy than before.

Adelaide continued. "And I don't know what happened tonight... But I _promise_ he doesn't fancy Finley..."

Lily laughed a hollow humorless laugh. "You didn't see them."

Adelaide shook her head. "I didn't have to. I know James. He's obsessed with you. It's borderline creepy. He wouldn't move on that fast."

"Finley's really nice."

"So are you," Adelaide said.

Lily frowned. "Finley's really nice and it only makes me more upset. If she was awful and snobby then I could feel justified wanting to claw her eyes out... but she's really sweet. It just makes it worse..."

"You know if you said the word, James would drop Finley in a heartbeat and be yours, right?"

That didn't seem to make Lily feel any better. The opposite really. "James doesn't _know_ me, Addy. He likes the idea of me. He's obsessed with who he _thinks_ I am... he wants to date the perfect version of me in his head... not me."

"That's why you have to talk to him... let him get to actually know you..."

Lily rubbed her face in her hands. "Ads... I appreciate you coming to check on me... but I'd really like to be alone now..."

"But—"

"Please?"

Adelaide glanced over at the abandoned toothbrush. "Only if you promise to stop stress cleaning."

Lily laughed, for real this time. "Deal."

Adelaide stood, reaching a hand to help Lily just as the door creaked open.

For a split second, Adelaide wondered if perhaps James had come up to apologize, but then she saw the sandy hair, amber eyes, freckled face.

"Remus?" she said, sharing a puzzled glance at Lily. How did he even get up there?

He looked highly uncomfortable, fiddling with his brown knitted jumper. "Um... Ads... you need to come back... We—we found Mary..."


	104. 104

**104 Fowl Predicament**  


"MOVE, PADFOOT! THIS IS OUR _SONG_!" James hollered, clumsily trying trying to push Sirius aside as 'Piano Man' began blaring through the gigantifide dormitory.

Without a second thought, Sirius flicked his wand at his best mate and winced as his nonverbal spell knocked James backwards onto his bed. James groaned, and mumbled something about Mary and harmonicas. His feet stuck straight up in the air and he _should_ have been too drunk and uncoordinated to get up very fast, but previous experience told Sirius he'd probably try to bolt again.

Sirius blew some hair out of his eyes and wiped his glistening forehead with his sleeve. Wrangling inebriated underaged teenagers was quite the workout.

It hadn't been difficult to find James. He was right where Regulus said he would be, next to the table of fire whiskey shots, surrounded by a herd of mini trumpeting Leroys in Greek helmets, one hand draped over Finley Bell's shoulders, laughing like he had just heard the funniest Quidditch joke in the world. The real trouble was convincing the old sport that his time at this soirée was over.

"No! Stop it!" James had shouted, forgetting about Finley and running off like a naughty toddler, zapping random partygoers' drinks into miniature elephants as he did so.

Sirius had chased him all through that bloody party, leaping over elephants and by some miracle managed to corner him in the nook he'd reserved for their beds... and he was _not_ going to let his best mates sudden infatuation with a random Billy Joel song stop him now.

"You're drunk, Prongs," he said, shimmying one of James's loafers off. James's feet were at a convenient angle given that he was still wallowing on his bed like a dying bug. "You'll thank me in the morning."

Sirius tossed the shoe absently onto the floor and reached for his wand, planning to use a nice sticking charm, when quicker than he should have been possible, James summersaulted off the bed. At first, Sirius thought he'd fallen by accident, but then James stood up, hair messier than ever, crooked grin and glassy eyed—and dashed off towards the party— now only wearing one shoe.

"Prongs!" Sirius yelled, running after him, weaving past all those stupid random people. Why hadn't someone shut this party down already? "GET BACK HERE!"

He was so damn angry at James. Being angry at James was a new thing. But he supposed it wasn't really _James_ , it was more like James's alter-ego—His drunken self-destructive ball of chaotic toddler energy alter ego. Still, he was so furious that he sounded like his mother when he screamed... which only made him more upset.

 _"SING US A SONG YOU'RE THE PIANO MAN!_ " James sang loudly, voice cracking, pushing a few hufflepuff girls out of the way.

Sirius half-muttered an apology as he pushed them aside as well. "Sorry—friend—shoe—"

"MARY!" James hollered, wobbling on his toes, looking over the top of some random tall kids head. "MARY MCDONALD GET OVER HERE! IT'S _OUR_ SONGGGGG!"

He was finally standing still, but there were too many people in the way for Sirius to get a clear shot to stun him, so he pulled a Leroy and charged.

"MARY?!" James called, unsuccessfully trying to push his glasses up his nose. "MARY WHERE ARE—GULPIN GARGOYLES!"

Sirius leaped. He should have tackled James to the ground in a gigantic bear hug, but James ran away at the last second. Sirius tried to break his fall, grabbing on to some random person, but only succeeded in taking them down to the floor with him.

His head whacked against the floor and left him dazed for a moment—though, he was vaguely aware he was being screamed at.

"UGH! Get off of me you sweaty piece of—"

The girl, for Sirius now realized it was a girl he'd tackled instead of James, stopped abruptly.

"Sorry—friend—whiskey—elephants..." he said, trying to get back to his feet. He had to get to James before he tried to snog someone else—or accidentally transfigured a Ravenclaw into a pachyderm—or—or something... Sirius stood and the world swam. He didn't even realize he was about to fall again until he felt the body of someone try to steady him.

"Woah, there—I think you hit your head pretty hard—" she said.

"I have to... get James..."

He tried to pull away but the person's grip was iron tight. Annoyed, he looked down at his captor. "Oh, bloody hell—not _you_!"

Lydia Green was scowling, but she refused to let go of her hold on him. "You know, most people might say thank you?"

"Sorry. Thanks for breaking my fall you spiteful psychopath—now please let me go—"

"Where's Adelaide?" she asked, fluttering her eyelashes up at him. It was probably meant to be seductive, but a piece of Lydia's red hair was caught in her lashes and her smile was too big, lipstick too red. She looked like a creepy porcelain doll that had been charmed to eat him.

"Don't know—but you better hope she doesn't find me like this."

"Why? Think she'll be jealous?" Her voice was lower, hoarser, like she needed a cough drop. She leaned closer which only intensified the 'I'm going to eat you' vibes.

"Hmm... I'm thinking more along the lines of murderous..."

Loony Lydia clearly took this as a compliment, eyes flashing with pride.

Sirius tried once more to pull away, but his head was throbbing and balance was still off. He couldn't get the right leverage. Every second he wasted there with stupid Lydia the more likely it was that James was going to get himself into serious trouble.

"Look—Just let me go and I promise I'll convince Addy not to scalp your hair off."

Now Lydia looked murderous. Yikes.

"I'm not intimidated by that lazy, half-breed, Veela slut!" Lydia said, over enunciating every syllable.

And now _Sirius_ was murderous. Lovely.

His jaw clenched, his vision was red. He ripped his arm out of Lydia's grip and rounded to face her, wand pointed right between her blue eyes, then snarled, " _What_ did you just call my girlfriend?"

Lydia held her composure, but she was trembling, whether from his tone or the wand, Sirius didn't know and didn't care. He was effing tired of this stupid girl bullying Addy and trying to woo him away with love potions. If he didn't have a moral code against attacking defenseless girls he would have hexed Lydia on the spot for all the horrible things she'd done—all the times Adelaide had held swallowed down tears at her merciless teasing.

Lydia stammered a non-response, cross eyed looking at his wand. Behind him, people were clapping in time with a new song, chanting, and whooping. Lydia's gaze drifted over his shoulder and her flummoxed expression morphed into a smirk of vindictive joy.

Not good.

She laughed as Sirius spun wobbly to the source of the commotion.

Not good at _all_. "What the..."

Lydia's breath hit hot against his ear, sending a shiver of disgust down his spine. "Well McDonald certainly seems to be... _enjoying_ herself..."

Sirius didn't even look back at Lydia or bother to push her back down—he just ran.

* * *

Remus Lupin was entirely unhelpful and Adelaide was annoyed. He had burst into her room insisting that she had to go back to the party and babbling something vaguely ominous about finding Mary and then refused to say anything else.

"Just... you just need to come back..." he had said.

Well now she was back and the party was even more bananas than before and she had no idea if Mary was hurt or dead or got her period while wearing those cute white bellbottoms again or if Evan had finally snogged her and she was melting into a giddy giggling puddle of happy Mary soup.

"Remus! Where—what's going... on..." her voice floated away eyes hardly believing what she was seeing.

First and foremost, she'd found Mary, as had half the male population at the party, evidently. The leggy brunette was standing atop a table like it was a stage, encircled by cheering boys and one horrified James Potter. They were all, with the exception of James, chanting her name, clapping, and whooping with glee at either because of her outfit, which was no longer her white bellbottoms and present top, but a slinky, revealing, two pieced, gold, belly dancing costume or the accompanying belly dance she was performing for them. Though, she didn't look anything like herself, she still looked very pretty, and her dance was rather skillfully executed, especially considering she had a large boa draped over her shoulders.

Not a feathered boa.

A real one.

The serpent flicked its little forked tongue in time with the music and the crowds clapping, tail coiling around Mary's wrist, body cozied up against her neck.

Now if the fact that Mary was dancing and flaunting her curves for a bunch of stupid hormonal boys wasn't out of character enough, the snake was a dead give away.

Mary _hated_ snakes.

No. Actually, Mary was _terrified_ of snakes.

Adelaide could still remember how traumatized she'd been third year when her boggart took the form of a gigantic viper. Someone threw a rubber snake at her a few days later as a joke and she burst into tears.

Mary should have been screaming or crying or trying to curse the snake into a worm... not _dancing_ with it.

"YOU FOUL—PEICE OF— DRAGON SHIT!"

Adelaide turned and finally processed the second very weird thing that was happening.

Not far away from the bizarre belly dancing, snake charming performance, Evan Rosier was fighting with Mulciber, muggle style. As far as Adelaide could tell, Evan was winning, but only barely. His brown sweat soaked hair fell into narrowed eyes, blood from his newly broken nose gushed down his face and into his mouth, making his usually glittering teeth grotesque and stained scarlet. Mulciber was uglier than usual, sporting a busted lip and one eye that had been swollen shut. Both boys looked dizzy and unsteady on their feet. But while Evan's teeth were bared like a murderous dragon ready to rip someone's throat out, Mulciber was grinning as if getting pummeled was the best thing that had ever happened to him.

Adelaide didn't know why Evan was fighting him specifically, but just looking at the smug look on Mulciber's face made her want to deck him muggle style as well.

"You know you should really be more thankful, Rosier," Mulciber wheezed, spitting a mouthful of blood on the floor. "McDonald seems to be in a good mood—Maybe now you'll finally get lucky—"

If Evan hadn't tackled him at that point, Adelaide would have.

She squeaked in surprise and stepped backwards to avoid getting caught in the action. Mary was still dancing away on the table with the snake, having the time of her life, but now Adelaide could see Regulus and Marlene at the edge, trying their hardest to convince her to come back down. Remus tried in vain to clear the crowd. James was still rooted in place, looking up at her in horror. No sign of Sirius...

"THIS ISN'T FUNNY!" Evan roared, blood and spit flying in Mulciber's stupid face as he pinned him to the floor, forearm against his neck. "LIFT THE EFFING CURSE, MULCIBER, OR SO HELP ME SALAZAR I'LL TELL DUMBLEDORE ABOUT—"

"Go on then, Mr. Prefect! _Tell him_! I don't care!" Mulciber laughed, but there was fear in his one good eye. Adelaide got the impression that he cared very much.

"Tell him what?" she asked before she could stop herself.

They both turned to her, confused.

Mulcibers grin returned. "Oh, Fawley! Just in time! Care to join the show—"

Adelaide's hand instinctively went to her wand and Evan landed a punch on the right side of Mulciber's face. Her stomach churned. Muggle fighting was so barbaric.

"You don't speak to her," Evan growled.

Mulciber was still smiling. "Tut tut, that's not very nice, Rosier. You know, if you want that pretty, slag girlfriend of yours—" Evan punched him again, but Muciber continued as if he hadn't. "—to stop the show you might try asking more politely next time."

"Lift the curse, you shit faced troll," Evan said in the most impolite way possible.

Mulciber grinned and laughed. "Ah, alas, I can't."

Evan, out of his mind with anger, looked momentarily terrified, before returning to fury. "Yes, you _can_! I know you're the one who cast it!"

"Nope. Wasn't me," Muciber shook his head, limp hair falling in his sweaty face as he chuckled. "Besides... you of anyone should know that flashy isn't my style. If I cast _that_ curse... no one would ever know..."

Evan simmered silently for a beat then screamed a wide string of profanities and pushed Mulciber away, wiping the blood off his face with his sleeve as he staggered towards Mary's little show.

Adelaide hurried to catch up with him. "Evan! You can't just let him go! He's obviously lying!"

Evan walked toward the table-stage, eyes focused on Mary. "He's not."

"Evan, Wait! At least let me help you—episky!—what curse did they use? Can't we just undo it ourselves?"

Evan shooed her away, not even thanking her for fixing his broken nose. "You don't think I've already tried that?"

"Evan—just wait! There's got to be a way to—"

"STUPEFY!"

Behind them, someone fell to the ground with a horrible thump. Adelaide circled around. "What in the—"

Avery was on the floor, breath knocked out of him, grasping for his wand which had fallen out of his hand. It rolled just out of reach, accidentally kicked by some random laughing passerby. Behind him, Mulciber was clumsily returning to his feet, leaning against a picked over table of assorted sweets, grinning as he watched the drama unfold.

"YOU MANGY FACED WEASLE!" Sirius roared, materializing out of the crowd of Mary's fanboys, pushing Evan aside, wand pointed right at Avery. "GET AWAY FROM MY GIRLFRIEND!"

Evan frowned, unsurprised. His shoulders slumped, glancing from Mary back to Avery, resigned. "Of course."

While Evan looked worn out and fed up, Sirius was ready to bash Avery's head in. She knew Sirius hated him, but even this was a little extreme for him. Avery must have tried to hex her or looked like he was going to hurt her.

She reached for Sirius with her right hand, wand still tightly gripped in her left. "Sirius, what—why are you—"

Avery went to reach for his wand and within the half second it took for him to pick it up and wield it at them, Adelaide and Sirius communicated their plan with only a glance. She didn't even have time to say the spell aloud—she didn't even know if the spell would work.

But Sirius did. He didn't even put up a defense when Avery called out, " _Expelliarmus_!"

"Quack!"

A gigantic white duck sprung out of the tip of Avery's wand and started waddling confused on the space between them.

For a moment they all just stared at the new addition to the party, then Mulciber was in stitches. "Mate! That's brilliant! You really know how to pick em'!"

Avery's face turned a shade of purple he was so furious. " _Stupefy_!"

"Quack!"

" _Petrificus_ _Totalus_!"

"Quack quack!"

" _Sectumsempra_!"

"QUACK!"

The last duck looked angry. It turned on Avery and began pecking at his trousers. "Ow—stop it! BLACK! What have you done to my wand!"

Adelaide felt Sirius shaking, and it took a moment to realize he was laughing. "Not what _I_ have done," he said, pride in his voice as he lopped an arm over Adelaide's shoulders. He smelled sweaty. "I'm afraid you have Addy to blame for your _fowl_ predicament. Nice one, love."

Avery let loose a long string of curses, ending with a nice line about her being a filthy blood traitor whore. Naturally after that particular comment, Sirius flicked his wand almost lazily, stunning him once more, throwing him back onto the ground. It was impressive, even by Sirius's standards the ease with which he cast the spell.

Mulciber howled in laughter, shoveling a bowl of mms into his busted up face.

"Fix my wand, you bitch!" Avery half-whined, half shouted.

"Fix my friend!" she shouted back, pointing up to Mary. Evan had abandoned them and was up on the stage, trying to avoid the Boa's front end as he tried to coax Mary away. However, Mary misunderstood his intentions and was trying to dance against him. This only flustered Evan more.

Avery's face contorted into a sinister sneer. "Why? She looks like she and Rosier are having a pleasant evening?"

Sirius growled and Adelaide had to hold him back. If he punched Avery and knocked him out, which she had a feeling was his intention, they wouldn't be able to get any information out of him. Sirius flashed her a ' _Babe, why can't I hit him?'_ sort of look.

"Why did you curse her?" Adelaide asked. "What are you even doing here?"

Mulciber cackled and Avery threw him a warning scowl, but mulciber couldn't care less. "Why does he do anything?! He came to see you, Princess!"

Sirius looked down at Adelaide, jaw clenched. "Can I _please_ hit him now?"

"I didn't curse you're stupid friend, Fawley!" Avery spat, standing up and dusting himself off. "Now fix my damn wand and I'll gladly—"

Suddenly, Avery was back on the ground, tackled by none other than James freaking Potter. "MARY—IS NOT—STUPID!"

James was trying to throw punches, but kept missing then almost falling over.

"Oh bloody fracking hell..." Sirius muttered, trying to pull James off of him.

Adelaide could tell he wasn't really trying his best, probably hoping James could hit get at least one good shot at Avery since he couldn't.

"Barbaric! You're all nothing but—barbarians!" Avery shrieked, narrowing missing another strike from Potter.

Sirius finally pulled James off, fixing his glasses for him. "Pads... why're there ducks?" James slurred.

Avery tried to make a getaway but Adelaide was quicker. She stood over him, wand pointed down at his face. "Oh no you don't! You're not going _anywhere_ until I get some answers! Starting with you you're really here," Adelaide snarled. "And if you didn't curse Mary who did?"

Avery stared up at her with an odd expression that made her suddenly feel more self conscious. It wasn't fear, or even loathing. Both of those she could probably handle. Nope. His face was softer, mouth handing open, eyes wide. She could feel her face getting hotter.

He blinked stupidly then shook himself out of his thoughts and returned to a scowl. "I came for the free booze, you idiot. And she isn't cursed, she's drugged."

Adelaide could hear James yelling again, a drunken slew of half formulated oaths—something about shoving a harmonica someplace a harmonica should never be shoved.

"Drugged with _what_ , exactly?" Adelaide said, trying to keep the panic out of her voice. Spells she could reverse, no problem. Potions not so much.

He rolled his eyes in a impatient manner. "I don't _know_! I'm not the one who did it!"

"But you know who did," she said rather than asked.

Avery half-glanced back behind him, catching himself. But it was enough for Adelaide to know _exactly_ who drugged Mary.

Her wand whipped to Mulciber and he took the mm bowl with him, limping as fast as he could toward the exit. He bumped past a group of boys, but promptly gasped and fell on his Slytherin bum when he saw their faces, mms scattering like marbles, nearly tripping poor Gaspard Shingleton as well. The three boys Mulciber had run into were making various animal noises that resembled laughter and had the faces to match. One panda, one spider, and one killer whale.

Davey, Peter, and Jack.

Adelaide doubted they even knew they stopped a fugitive from escaping, but was thankful all the same.

* * *

Mary had the worst headache of her entire life. Hands down. No contest. It was awful. Just the filtered light through her eyelids throbbed back against her skull, as if her eyeballs and her brain were having the words gruesomest Quidditch match against one another. She groaned and readjusted trying to cover her eyes. Her mouth was parched and cottony and her limbs felt heavy and sore like they did after a good work out. Weird.

Something smelled really good.

Wait.

That was her.

She smelled really good. Or at least her sleeves smelled good, like Sandalwood and citrus.

It took a moment to place why this was so familiar.. but then it clicked.

"Evan?" she croaked, blinking her eyes then shutting them tight in the brutal light of morning.

Hold on... it was... _morning_?

Her sleeves smelled like Evan and it was morning.

She sat straight up, forgetting the headache momentarily. "Holy horklumps!" she gasped, looking around, trying to get her bearings. "Where am I? What's going on? Why is—"

"Shh... Mare you're fine. You're safe," Evan said. He was sitting on her bed, looking completely out of place and only further exasperating her headache. For one, he had some really messy hair, of course, he rocked it and looked like a freaking fashion model… but still… messy. He also looked like he'd stayed up all night boxing with a grizzly bear. His hair was a mess, his face was bruised and cut, yet clean. And he was wearing a Gryffindor scarlet jumper with a big golden lion.

And as if that wasn't weird enough, she was pretty sure she was laying in James's bed in the Gryffindor boys dormitory. She swiveled around in alarm, worried for a heartbeat that James was snuggled up with her.

No James.

Thank merlin.

She let out a breath and flopped back against the pillows.

She must have winced because weird-banged-up-Evan-in-the-Gryffindor-jumper starting fretting over her.

"Easy— are you feeling okay? No—scratch that—of course your not—I—"

"Thirsty. Headache," she managed.

Evan might have said something, but she was still sort of half asleep, so she wasn't sure. It could have been five seconds or five minutes or five hours later, but eventually he was coaxing her vertical and shoving water in potions in her face.

She felt better almost immediately.

"Better?" he asked.

She sighed contentedly. "Loads..."

However, now that it didn't feel like her frontal lobe was being pummeled by bludgers, she was able to fully grasp how very weird her current situation was.

For one, she wasn't wearing the right clothes.

"I... what in the... what am I—" she was mostly covered by James's duvet, but she was painfully aware that she had bed hair, bad breath, and was wearing Evan's jacket over a… was it a belly dancing costume? What the actual hell? How did _that_ happen?

She tried to remember how she got to be in James's bed, why Evan was there, when she changed into this horribly embarrassing outfit... but all came up a blank.

Which was scary.

Really scary.

She didn't even realize she was crying until Evan smothered her in a hug. It was really nice and all but she was still freaked out and simply could not get over the fact that he was wearing a _Gryffindor_ jumper. It was so weird.

"Sh—Mare—it's okay..." he said, smoothing her hair suffocating her in his scent (hey, if she was going to die, she'd prefer to go being hugged by Evan).

She, reluctantly, pushed him off of her so she could, you know, breathe. "Why—why are you here—why am _I_ here—and why are you wearing this—and why am I wearing this and—and where's James?!"

Evan's perfect handsome eyebrows got all scrunched up and it was so cute that if Mary hadn't been flipping out, she would have told him so and made him blush. He took a deep steadying breath. His hand reached half the distance between them then returned to his lap, as if he was going to move the hair out of her eyes, but thought against it. She wished he would have.

"Sirius lent me this because my shirt had blood on it," he began carefully. "I-I was worried about you and they let me stay here over night so I could… um... check on you... James is in the bathroom, hungover… er… and vomiting and generally regretting his life choices... and... and..." his eyes flashed down to her shoulder for a moment. She was fully covered thanks to the blanket and his jacket… but still she felt exposed. Maybe it was just the fact that Evan seemed to know about what had happened than she had. Without thinking she crawled deeper under the covers to hide herself. "Do you—do you remember what happened to you... at the party?"

His eyes were so sad. She couldn't tell if he wanted her to remember or not. Man, she really wished he'd hug her again... No. Focus. She had to focus. The party... "I um... I know I was there... and that I was hanging out with James while I waited for you..." Evan frowned almost imperceptibly, but she brushed it off. "But then he—he went off with Finley and I—I... I went to tell Avery and his friends to leave. I threatened to turn them into chickens if they didn't... Wilkes bailed right away... but the other two..." Her head hurt again. "I can't—I can't remember anything else..."

"So you don't remember the snake?" Evan asked.

"The _what_?!"

"I—Erm..." Evan scratched the back of his neck, blushing. "Maybe it's better if we wait for Addy to get back... she'd probably be better at explaining than me anyways—"

"Evan..." she said slowly, trying to keep the panic out of her voice. "Evan, what happened to me?"

He was reluctant, but he told her everything he knew. He told her that she'd been drugged, by Mulciber allegedly, though they didn't know how or with what. He told her that someone else, they didn't know who, had charmed her clothes into that god awful getup she was currently wearing. He told her, again blushing, how she'd been dancing on a table for everyone with a boa constrictor draped over her shoulders (she made a mental note to take a shower ASAP). And lastly, that her friends had kicked everyone out and let her stay in the dorm until she got her strength back.

There was a distant retching sound coming from the bathroom. "Okay..." she said, voice shaking as she tried to process everything. "Okay... so you're here... and James is in there..." she nodded towards the bathroom. "But where's everyone else?"

It was easier to be worried about everyone's whereabouts than to address the horribly unsettling truth that she'd been publicly humiliated and remembered none of it. Evan, idiot that he was, somehow seemed to understand.

"Sirius is with James still... the rest went down for breakfast..."

"And Mulciber?" she said before she could stop herself.

This time Evan's hand reached for hers and he didn't retreat back to his lap. His hands were warm and bigger than hers, which was kind of a big deal because she had big hands for a girl. He made her feel dainty, not like a giant Sasquatch sent to look down on everyone's dandruff. It was nice. Also it was Evan. So it was _really_ nice.

Evan cleared his throat. "Well... I expect he's down at breakfast... for now..."

Mary didn't know what to make of his tone, nor of his information. A weird burning feeling bubbled up within her chest at the thought of Mulciber casually having some eggs Benedict while she hid away in someone else's dormitory, feeling and throughly violated. Stripped of her dignity and memory and forced to face the repercussions of something that wasn't her fault... something that was _his_ fault.

Evan must have sensed her anger. His hand gripped hers tighter. "He's not getting away with what he did to you, Mary. I can promise you that."

Mary searched his blue green eyes, asking them for an answer to how that would be... "But how—"

"Addy..." Evan said, as if reading her mind. "Addy and the boys... they're going to go to Dumbledore after breakfast... they're going to tell him everything that happened... everything he did to you... he's not getting away with it."

Mary sputtered for an answer, her sluggish head trying to understand why this made her even more anxious and panicky... the answer was right in front of her... but she couldn't quite piece it together... just out of her reach...

Adelaide... Dumbledore... everything...

Then it clicked.

She scrambled out of the bed so fast her knees gave out.

Evan yelped and tried to help her back to bed, but she refused, shooing him off and hobbling toward Remus's trunk to steal some sweats and a jumper. "Close your eyes, Evan!"

Evan looked like he wanted to protest, but seeing the clothes in her hands, thought better of it and did as he was told.

In a flash, Mary was wearing a full outfit a-la-Lupin. "Evan what time is it?!" she said quickly looking around for her wand.

Evan, hands still covering his eyes, told her it was pretty late, breakfast was nearly over—

"Shit! Shit, I have to stop them before it's too late!"

Evan, unconcerned for her modesty, stared at her incredulously— thankfully she was a quick dresser. " _Stop_ them?! Too late for _what_?!"

Mary cursed under her breath, hand firmly gripping the door. She didn't have time to explain this to Evan... but he did stay up all night with her so she figured he deserved some sort of explanation.

"I have to stop them before they talk to Dumbledore!"

Evan blinked, worried she'd gone insane again. "Mary... you... you understand what Mulciber did, right? What he made you do? What he forced you to do? He—Dumbledore needs to know, Mare..."

Again that panic was creeping up her chest, clawing though her throat and finally wound up in her tear ducts, as every other emotion usually did. "I—he..." she took a shaky breath, blinking the tears away, willing herself to stay composed. "They can't tell Dumbledore what happened without telling him about the party."

Evan blinked again. "They—they know that, Mare. They know... they didn't care... they said you were more important..."

Stupid tears. She was crying. Ugh. "No! Evan! Do you know how much trouble they're going to get in?!"

Evan seemed conflicted between wanting to console her and tell her she was being stupid. "It doesn't matter! Mary, that creep needs to face some punishment for what he did to you! You can't seriously be more worried about your friends getting detention—"

"Addy can't get in trouble, Evan!" she choked back a sob. "She _can't_! Her—her parents—Evan you don't understand! She can't—we can't let them tell Dumbledore! I can't lose her!"

Evan tried to wrap his arms around her but she pushed him away.

"Mary... Dumbledore isn't going to expel Addy just for throwing a party..."

She shoved the heels of her hands against her eyes, tying to stop crying. Stop being so emotional. Stop freaking out. But she couldn't.

"N-not Dumbledore! Her dad! Her—her dad said if she messed up again she—she'd—she'd have to g-go to F-France!" she forced the words out, hands tingling and lightheaded. "I—I can't lose her—she's my best friend in the whole world—and I—I can't be the one to—to get her sent away! Evan, I wouldn't be able t-to live with myself!"

This time, she let Evan hold her.

She let herself cry into his chest, letting him wrap his arms around her and stroke her messy bed hair for five deep breaths...

After five deep breaths, Evan went into the bathroom to fetch Sirius and have him run down and tell the others to call off the plan. Sirius needed no convincing— one mention of Addy and France and he was bolting faster than Mary ever could have managed, but she could tell Evan wasn't really happy about it.

Once she'd calmed down, things were sort of awkward between them… He didn't really look at her. He kept his distance. His face was all stoney… which she hated. Eventually, she broke and told Evan he should go back to his dorm and get cleaned up before he attracted even more attention to himself, but really she just wanted to avoid the tension between them.

Once he was gone, mounting his broom with a dissolutionment charm she didn't realize he could cast, she wandered towards the bathroom door, praying James was decent.

The door creaked and he groaned, peeking up from his vomit bucket. He looked bad. Really _really_ bad. Pale. Sad. And also oddly unlike himself without his glasses.

"You look like you got ran over by a chimera then thrown around by a giant squid," she said plopping herself onto the stone floor beside him.

He made a face and grunted. "Feels worse."

A beat passed but it wasn't awkward like it was with Evan. James was easy to be around, even when he was at his worst.

"Sirius told me what happened..." James managed, eyes shut, voice echoing off the hollow insides of the wooden bucket.

"Weren't you there?"

James shrugged then winced. "Apparently. I—it's—sort of fuzzy... I think I tried to hit Mulciber..." He scrunched his eyes closed really hard. "He called you stupid and it pissed me off."

Mary half-smiled. "You said you _tried_...?"

"I missed."

"Ah."

James ran a hand through his dirty hair. She was fairly certain he was going to vomit again. "I did a stupid thing, Mare..."

"Yes, well... now we know you and fire whiskey don't mix—"

"I kissed Finley."

That was the absolute _last_ thing she expected to come out of his mouth.

It was followed by the thing she most expected. Vomit.

"Gross..."

James moaned woefully, almost like he was going to cry. "I know... I _know_..."

Mary was actually commenting on the vomit, not kissing... but she had to admit, him snogging someone other than Lily... not good. Not for him... not for the poor girl he'd pulled into this mess. But she couldn't exactly say that when he looked so broken...

"Well..." she began, forcing the optimism into her voice. "It could have been worse... At least Finley's sweet... she'll be disappointed and all, but she'll get that mistakes happen... especially when you've been drinking and—"

"I wasn't drunk."

If James hadn't lifted his head to look at her she would have thought he was lying.

But—if he wasn't— that would mean...

"Wait... _what_?"

James slumped down. "I wasn't drunk when I kissed her. I got drunk after because I—I felt so guilty... I just wanted it to stop..."

Mary couldn't make sense of what she was hearing. "You—if you're weren't drunk—James, are saying you _meant_ to kiss Finely?"

He threw up again.

"Yes..." He groaned. "I _told_ you! I screwed up!"

"Why!? Why would you do that?! I thought you fancied Lily!"

"I do!" he said louder, almost growling, squeezing his eyes shut as if it was painful to think about. "I do fancy her! Bloody fancy her so much it hurts... But—but Mare she _hates_ me! All I do is try to be nice to her and she won't even _talk_ to me! And when she does she's just angry the whole time and—and Finley... she's nice… and wicked at quidditch… and kind of cute... and she was actually talking to me... she actually _wanted_ to be with me and I—I don't know what happened... I knew she wanted me to kiss her and I—I just did... and then I immediately felt like I was cheating on Lily and I—I just kept kissing Finley to make the bad feelings stop... but it only made it worse so I— then I switched to the fire whiskey... and yeah... here we are..."

"God, James..." Mary breathed. "Did you tell Sirius all that?"

"Duh."

She shook her head, not knowing what to say. Obviously he'd handled things the wrong way and made a total mess of things... but seeing things from his perspective... she could kind of understand why he did it.

His eyes lifted from his puke bucket and, if possible, got even sadder. "I should never have left you..."

She opened her mouth, but no words came out.

His hands gripped the bucket so tight that his knuckles turned white. "I should never have left with Finley—I should have gone with you to deal with Avery... If I'd been there maybe they wouldn't have—I—it's all my fault, Mare..." he closed his eyes. "I'm so sorry..."

"It's not your fault, James," she said softer. "It's Mulciber's. He's the one that made me drink the weird potion and go all snake charmer."

James snorted. "You did dance rather well."

"Shut up or I'll take away your bucket."

James's arms wrapped protectively around his bucket, pouting. "You're mean."

Mary laughed then sighed.

James closed his eyes, like he was about to be sick again.

"Couldn't Sirius brew you an anti-hangover potion or something?"

James threw up, then wiped his mouth with his sleeve. "He can—he _did_... I told him I didn't want it..."

"Self-inflicted punishment for cheating on your not-girlfriend?"

He shrugged.

She nodded. "Sounds logical."

He didn't laugh, but he almost smiled which was something.

Mary was about to get up and grab them both some water when he spoke again.

"It—I—um... it was a really selfless thing you did... for Addy..." he shook his head. "Mulciber doesn't deserve it… but you're the only one who even _thought_ about all that... with her parents and stuff..."

Mary didn't think it was selfless at all… If anything, she was selfish and pathetic. She didn't want to lose Adelaide… even if that meant letting her attacker go free. If anything, she felt weak. But of course she'd never _ever_ say this out loud. And so, not knowing how to respond, she brushed the whole thing off and changed the subject.

"Did we ever figure out who Marley's mystery lad was?"

James snorted indignantly. "No."

Mary sighed and they shared a mischievous look between them. "We're keeping the bet going next school year, aren't we?"

James smirked. "Of course."

Then he puked in his bucket.


	105. 105

**Chapter 105-Next Time**

Marlene held her breath. The roast from the end of year feast flipped in her stomach as she pushed the heavy door open with a low creak. She winced at the sound. It reverberated in the sleepy abandoned dungeon corridor, somehow amplified in the darkness.

Of course, Marlene McKinnon _was_ _not,_ and had never _been_ , afraid of the dungeons or of the dark... but of creepy creaky doors? Well... she wasn't a fan.

She prayed none of the prefects she'd skirted past on her way heard the door as her eyes strained into the dark empty room before her.

The sensible thing to do would have been to light up her wand with a nice lumos charm. But then again, the _more_ sensible thing to do would have been to say in her cozy four poster bed, in the breezy safety of Gryffindor tower... not wander about the sketchiest part of castle... especially not that time of night... and _especially_ not alone...

Well... she wasn't _exactly_ alone... At least, she better not have been.

She'd kill Regulus personally and painfully if he stood her up.

There was a rustling in the inky blackness of the abandoned classroom and then the door shut itself behind her. She jumped and made a modifying sound like a dying mouse.

So much for being a brave and mighty Gryffindor. She'd never become an auror if she couldn't get over an aversion to rusty door hinges.

" _Lumos!"_ a voice hissed. Across the room wand light flickered casting a ghostly cool aura.

Marlene couldn't help but smile. Genuinely smile like a goddam idiot and she didn't even care.

Regulus grinned back, popping up behind a row of desks covered in dusty canvas tarps. "Hi."

"Hi," she said, still rooted in place.

"Hi," he said again.

She stood there for a ridiculous amount of time, just soaking in his smile, before finally coming to her senses and padding over to the little hidden nook where he was lurking. "Nice place, decorate it yourself?" she teased.

Regulus rolled his eyes. "Hey, it's better than a meadow of hungry acromantulas ."

Marlene huffed, plopping herself down on the little pallet he'd made behind the canvas covered furniture. It was like their own personal dusty cave. It wasn't as nice as what she would have done, and there were too many Slytherin-green blankets piled up for her tastes, but she could tell he tried. "You're never going to let me live that down, are you?"

Regulus smirked. "Nope."

"Remind me again why I risked life and sleep deprivation to come down here?"

Regulus laughed and turned behind him, reaching for a paper bag that had thus far been hidden in darkness. A familiar paper bag with a stamped green emblem.

"You didn't!" she cried, reaching out.

"I did." Regulus laughed even more, not making any attempt to keep the bag away from her greedy hands. "Worth the trip down here?"

Marlene, who had already stuffed an entire pumpkin pasty in her mouth (good Godric, they were fresh), nodded vigorously. "How?" she managed to mumble.

Regulus shrugged, trying and failing to come off as nonchalant. "Sometimes it pays to have a delinquent brother... especially when said delinquent brother owes you for brewing painkiller potions in his time of greatest need..."

Marlene nearly choked. "Are you saying you blackmailed Sirius into getting me my favorite sweets?"

Regulus shrugged again, taking a pumpkin pasty out of the bag for himself.

Marlene finished off the pumpkin pasty she'd devoured. "I take back everything I said before. You're definitely a Slytherin."

"Is that good or bad?" he asked.

Marlene leaned forward and kissed him.

"Good," Regulus decided, blushing. "Definitely good."

* * *

When Regulus snuck her a note earlier that day telling her to meet him that evening, Marlene didn't really take time to think it through. She simply snuck out and met him because... well, because she wanted to. It was as simple as that.

It worried her how impulsive he made her.

But as she giggled as bad as Mary, listening to him tell a hilarious story about a time he'd accidentally set Sirius's hair on fire when he was a toddler, she couldn't help thinking that her impulsivity had paid off. Being with him made her happy. Truly and actually happy.

However, it was getting later and later, and if the giggling wasn't a cue that she should go to bed soon, the yawning certainly was. But even though Regulus offered, multiple times, like the Pureblood gentleman he was, to walk her all the way back to the tower, she refused. "In a little bit—now tell me more about this cat you used to have."

Of course she loved listening to stories of Sirius being traumatized by feline house pets as much as the next person, but that wasn't what kept her from leaving.

She didn't want to go because she knew it might be a long time before she felt this happy again. The next day she'd return to... well she didn't even know where she was going. She knew that Aurors were picking her and Martin up and that they'd be transported to a safe house where her mother and sister and cousins had been staying.

She didn't want to think about what it would be like, going a whole summer without her father... cooped up with her family. No letters. No sleepovers. No communication with the outside world at all. Over Easter the aurors wouldn't even let her go outside to read without a guard.

She wanted to savor this last taste of happiness a _bit_ longer.

Finally, Regulus ran out of amusing childhood stories and the time of night began catching up with him as he yawned loudly, tucking her against his side, his hand finding hers. "McKinnon... I've caught your yawns," he chuckled softly. "I think it might be time to call it a night."

Marlene knew he was right, even if she didn't like it. All good things had to come to an end.

"Yeah... yeah... I suppose." She sat up, leaving the warmth of his side, but his hand never left hers.

"I'm sorry I couldn't make the dust cave nicer..." he mumbled, smiling to downplay the sincerity. "Its all I could come up with on short notice. I'll find a better place next time... maybe something with windows..."

 _Next time._

He said the words so casually, so confidently despite his bashfulness. It caught her off guard.

"You know— I don't— You don't have to— I um..." she blinked several times, brain reaching for the right words. His hand was so warm in hers, so warm and so steady. It seemed cheesy and trite, but they really did fit together so perfectly... it only made what she had to say that much more difficult. She focused on his hand, not the searing searching eyes upon her. "I just... Summer is a long time... and I— well I just want you to know... that I don't expect... when we get back...I just... I need you to know that I—I understand that things change..."

She could feel her face turning red, her nerves raw, as if one wrong comment might send her spiraling. Boy, she got more dramatic when she needed sleep.

But she had to make him understand that she wasn't trying to trap him. She didn't want him to feel obligated to keep seeing her. His words about envying the freedom of birds had been her mind more than usual these days.

He squeezed her hand gently. "Marlene..." he said into the flickering wand light. " _Nothing_ is going to change between us..."

Again. His confidence was startling. But the words which left his lips in the spirt of encouragement and reassurance soured as they hit the dusty air between them... Regulus's smile faded, his eyes dimmed. He realized how truthful those words were same as her.

Nothing was going to change between them.

Nothing would _ever_ change between them.

Even after they returned, what would they return to? A few stolen moments of breaking curfew. Maybe some fleeting glances over crowded halls. Secret notes. Code names.

But never anything more.

Marlene would never be able to walk down the corridors relishing in how stupid and cliche it was that his hand fit in hers so perfectly. He'd never be able to blush when his mates gave him a hard time for standing with her at quidditch games. She'd never be able to gush to her little sister about how funny and sweet and annoying and bird obsessed he was or listen to her little sister tease her for turning into a hopeless sap. She'd never get to do any of those things she'd always despised—not with him.

The best they could ever hope for is that their feelings would disappear... But that was more unlikely than them going public with... with whatever it was that was between them.

Nothing could ever change between them.

Marlene blamed sleep deprivation for the mistiness in her eyes, swallowing down the lump in her throat to speak... but what was there to say?

 _CLINK CLUNK CLUNCK!_

The jostling locked door handle jerked Marlene out of her sappy feelings, spine ridged, one hand instinctively finding her wand while the other refused to let go of Regulus.

Regulus breathed, "Nox," extinguishing all light from the room, and emerging them in oppressive darkness once more.

"I thought you said no one knew about this room..." Marlene said in a quavering whisper.

She felt Regulus shift so he was in front of her, as if to shield her from the intruder. She knew he was trying to be sweet but she bristled at the action. She didn't need anyone's protection. "I said only a _few_ people knew about it..." he hissed.

There were muffled voices and jingling keys on the other side of the doorway.

Logically, Marlene knew it was probably just a lazy prefect trying to dip out during last patrol, or perhaps the old wheezy grounds keeper lurking about... Worst case scenario they get caught and have detention when they returned in September. Big deal.

However, when the lock clicked and the door creaked open, her grip on Regulus's hand tightened and her mind tumbled into nightmares... to a time when she was hidden just as she was now, in the dark, helpless... squeezing Martin's hand... forced to listen... to listen that horrible woman's ice cold voice snarling at her aunt... watching spells flicker against the walls... feeling the vibration when her aunt hit the wood floors of Millie's nursery in a flash of green.

* * *

Judging by the lack of circulation in his hand, Regulus was reasonably certain Marlene was freaking out, which was odd. He'd never seen her truly scared. Not like this. Sad and angry? Absolutely. Surprised and angry? Hello Acromantulas. Happy and angry? That was practically her default when he was around. (He made a mental observation that most of her strong emotions were accompanied by anger). But scared to the point of paralysis? Never.

Unfortunately, ruminating over her weird mood swings would have to wait. Whoever was at that door muttered the spell to get in.

He figured it was just a few prefects— it was a terribly kept secret that Slytherin prefects hung out in here to skive off night patrols— but still, he was on his guard when two figures walked forward, door creaking closed behind them. Marlene's grip tightened and he did his best not to yelp from the pain, gritting his teeth together. He peered though a gap in the canvas furniture coverings that cocooned them in their hidden alcove. Wand light from one of their intruders sparked to life.

Regulus nearly cursed when he saw who they were.

"Poseidon's pants, Rosier! What's so bloody secretive that we have to—"

"It's about Mulciber," Evan said.

Jake Farley, Madge's older Prefect brother, sighed as if he knew where this conversation was headed and was tired already, running a hand through his shiny dark hair. "Should have known... Look, I already told you I don't want—"

"He attacked Mary," Evan said, cutting Jake off.

"Yeah... I know," Jake said warily. " _Everyone_ knows that but— "

"Jake, he—" Evan looked around and Regulus thought for a moment he suspected they were there. His face lingered in their direction for a heartbeat, then turned to shame. His voice lowered, nearly too quiet to hear. _Nearly_. "I think he used... I think he used the curse on her."

Regulus could feel Marlene's hand loosen and imagined she was staring at him, willing him to explain what the hell his cousin was talking about. But even if Regulus could order his mind enough to perform occlumency he wouldn't have had the first clue how to explain what was going on. Obviously he knew Evan hated Mulciber. Even before Mulciber attacked Mary, Evan was on guard— as if he was _expecting_ Mulciber to do something horrible. But why was Evan talking to _Jake_ about it?Since when were they friends? And why in _here_? In the middle of the night? And what _curse_ was he talking about?

Jake stood silent for a beat or two before speaking. "No. No, he used a potion on her— Even Avery said he—"

"Avery doesn't know half as much as he thinks he does," Evan grumbled. "I'm telling you... I've done the research and there's just— there's no way it could have been a potion... Besides the fact that she hadn't eaten anything except some sweets that whole night— Mulciber isn't skilled enough to pull off a brew that advanced.. and even if he did—"

"What about Snape?"

"What about him?" Evan said.

"He's mates with Avery's lot and better than some N.E.W.T. students with a cauldron— maybe he—?"

"No," Evan said. "No, Snape wouldn't do that Mary. She's one of Lily's best friends."

"So?" said Jake. "Jealousy makes people do weird things."

"Look, I know you're still angry after what happened with Madge's cat— _rightfully_ so—but Snape wouldn't do that to Lily..."

Regulus was even more confused than before. What in the world did Snape have to do with Madge's dead cat? But he had to agree. Snape wouldn't hurt Mary.

Jake didn't seem to agree. "Okay, fine—so Mulciber got some other kid to brew the potion—"

"I'm telling you, It wasn't a _potion_!" Evan's voice had a dangerous out of control edge to it that Regulus knew all too well. He'd heard it so many times before at home. A Black family trait. One he himself tried very hard to suppress.

Jake took an unconscious step backwards. Marlene's hand gripped Regulus's tighter.

"You don't _really_ think he'd pull _another_ stunt like that, do you?" Jake asked. He sounded like he was trying to act skeptical while really wondering if it were possible. "I mean—even he's not foolhardy enough to try something like that in front of so many witnesses—"

"Wouldn't be the first time," Evan said darkly.

Jake took a breath. "Alright—let's say for arguments sake he _did_ use the curse again—why are you telling _me_? Why not go to Dumbledore?"

"Mary doesn't want him to know..." Evan's voice had an unmistakeable current of bitterness to it. "She doesn't want to get her friends in trouble—if I told him... she'd never forgive me. But I thought maybe... maybe if _you_ told him... about what happened last time—"

Regulus felt a chill run down his spine. He'd suspected for years that Evan had some dirt on Avery and his thugs... but if he was understanding correctly... Mulciber had attacked someone else like he had with Mary... and Evan let him get away with it.

The thought made him sick.

"No!" Jake said loudly. The wand light flickered in the room. "No way—Not happening—I told you I don't want any trouble!"

"But Jake he can't get keep getting away with it—"

"Tell Dumbledore yourself!"

"—First Cleo now Mary—next time it could be Madge—"

"I said _no_!" Jake said loudly. "Mulciber is best mates with Avery—do you have any _idea_ what he'll do if he even _thinks_ I had something to do with this? What he'll tell everyone?"

"But he's friends with Charlie! He wouldn't—"

"You're an idiot of you actually believe that, Rosier. Charlie is disposable—even _he_ knows it."

"But we have to—"

" _We_ don't have to do anything," Jake said firmly. "Look. I'm sorry about your girlfriend, I really am—but I have to put my family first."

"But Jake! _Please_! You're the only one who can help me—"

" _No_! Don't put this on me, Rosier! You were there same as me and did nothing the first time to stop it—You only care now that it's Mary he's set his sight on. You want to make things right? You want to get justice? Do it yourself."

"But I—"

"I have to get back to patrol," Jake said, already walking towards the door.

"Farley, _please_!"

"I'm sorry, Rosier... family comes first."

The door creaked the shut behind him.

It was silent and Regulus was fighting to keep his breaths inaudible.

After a beat or two, Evan stormed out, cursing like a sailor, slamming the door behind him. It's a wonder he didn't wake up the whole castle with his temper tantrum.

They sat in quiet darkness for several moments before Marlene's wand light filled the nook with a ghostly glow once more. Regulus almost wished they could go back to sitting in the dark when he saw her face.

"Did you know?" she asked, voice nearly as sharp as her piercing gaze.

"What?" he asked stupidly.

"When Mary went missing—you were worried about Mulciber—did you know he'd done something like this before?"

Regulus blinked.

How could she—

" _No_!" he said emphatically. "I didn't—obviously he's a creep—but I never—I didn't know he—" He didn't know his best friend had been keeping a secret like this from him. "Marlene you have to believe me, I had no idea about any of that—that made about as much sense to me and it did you."

He didn't even realize Marlene was pointing her wand at him until she lowered it. The light cast dark shadows beneath her eyes. She didn't speak for a count of three. He wondered if she was trying not to yell at him. "I believe you."

The fact that she believed him did little to ease the tension between them.

What Evan had said... well it was too much for Regulus to fully process the moment.

And if he was being honest the mood had shifted even before Evan stormed in.

Regulus couldn't blame anyone but himself for the sadness he felt. He knew there was no happy way to end things between him and Marlene. He knew that he wouldn't have the courage to break things off. He should have never gotten close to her. Should have never encouraged whatever it was that was between them.

He wondered if she resented him for luring her there, knowing that there was nothing good that could come out of it.

"I should go," she said stiffly. Sad and angry. He knew the combination well by this point and it wasn't his favorite. He nearly charmed her a little quacking Dennis.

"I'll walk you—"

"No," she said. "No... I-I think I need to be alone right now."

It could have been his sleepiness or tendency to over think, but he got the impression there was more weight to her words.

She wanted to be alone.

She didn't need him.

Of course she didn't _need_ him. She didn't need anyone. It's one of the things he liked about her. But needing and wanting were different.

"Alright," he said, trying to not sound sad. "Well I'll... I'll see you around I guess?"

Marlene's stern mask faltered and a half a second later she caught him off guard with yet another mood swing. She was kissing him. Desperately kissing him.

He tried not to think about how much more practice she had at kissing, or with whom she had practiced with. He tried to focus on the fact that right then, she was kissing _him_. But even that didn't make him feel any better. Because this wasn't a happy, 'you're so annoying' kiss or an 'I'm so flattered you blackmailed your brother for me' kiss or even an 'I want to make you flustered because your cute when you blush' kiss. It was sad. It was an 'I miss you even though you're right next to me,' kiss. It was a goodbye kiss.

* * *

Between having to leave Regulus and finding out that Mary's crush was a grade A Slytherin slime ball, Marlene's mood had done nothing but deteriorate. By time she reached the portrait hole she was angry enough to punch the fat lady right in her painted teeth.

"Porcupines!" she snapped, kicking the portrait frame to jostle the lady awake.

The fat lady narrowed her painted eyes. "Well aren't _you_ out late..."

Marlene rolled her eyes and tapped her foot. "Porcupines."

"I heard you the first time..." she sniffed, shifting her glare to Marlene's foot.

"Then do your job and open the damn door."

The fat lady looked at her with contempt, but begrudgingly obliged, shutting the door so quickly behind her she hit Marlene in the back of the head. "Ow! Ugh... stupid finger painting... Monet wanna be..." she grumbled, walking into the common room.

It had to be at least three in the morning, which meant everyone _should_ have been in bed asleep... but apparently the two people on the sofa hadn't gotten the memo.

Marlene rolled her eyes. Great. Just what she needed. To run into some happy couple. She could only see the tops of their heads and the sounds of their whispering—she hoped they were to enamored with each other's company to bother noticing her.

No such luck.

Their heads popped up in almost comical unison. But there was nothing funny about their identities.

Marlene could feel the blood rushing to her cheeks.

"Marley?" Mary said, looking between her and the stairs, confused. "I though—I thought you were in bed..."

"Um..."

James Potter grinned, pushing his glasses up the long bridge of his nose. "Nice night with mystery lad, eh?"

Mary's confusion was replaced with mischief. They looked just like her twin cousins, Davis and Elinor, whenever they found out one of the other kids had done something naughty.

Thankfully, Marlene was an excellent liar and master at hiding panic. Her eyes scanned over the two of them, looking a way of deflecting.

That's when she realized they were holding hands.

God, no.

"Better question is: what the hell are you two up to this time of night?" She looked pointedly at their clasped hands and James blushed bright red, ripping his hand away.

"It's not—it's not what it looks like,"

Marlene raised an eyebrow, inching towards the stairs. "Oh really? Because it looks like you're on your way to snogging another girl who isn't Lily..."

It was a cheap shot and maybe a bit of a stretch, but she plucked just the chord needed to throw him off.

James flung himself away and was a stammering, guilty mess. However, Mary, to her credit, remained composed and merely rolled her eyes. "Oh come on, Marley. You know it's not like that."

"Do I?" Marlene asked, subtly taking a few more inching steps towards the stairs. "No one suspected him and Finley... and you _have_ been spending an awful lot of time together..."

The mention of Finley made James turn green.

Mary scowled and looked ready to hex her, but Marlene continued, taking some backwards strides—just a few more paces before she got to the staircase. "Can't say it's the worst match I've ever seen—Better him than that scummy Slytherin bloke—"

"Don't talk about Evan like that!" Mary snarled.

James was shaken out of his horror and looked at Marlene so intensely it unnerved her. Like he knew she was hiding something. Like her words were more than teasing. Which, of course they were.

Marlene hated Evan Rosier. She didn't know exactly what happened, but she knew enough. She knew it was his fault Mary was attacked. That he could have stopped Mulciber before but hadn't because he was a damn coward.

"Evan's the one who took care of Mary..." James said slowly.

Marlene tried and failed to suppress an eye roll.

"You just hate him because he's a Slytherin!" Mary snapped. "You think they're all a bunch of want to be death eaters because—"

"I do _not_!"

"—because of what happened with your aunt!" Marlene felt like the wind had been knocked out of her. But Mary continued anyway. "Well I hate to break it to you Marlene but you don't know everything! There are good Slytherins out there!"

Marlene wanted to punch her and agree with her all at the same time. She didn't need reminding that there were good Slytherins, not when her heart was already aching to be with Regulus again. But Evan wasn't good. Evan was a liar. If he really cared about Mary he'd be honest with her, tell her what he knew about Mulciber.

Marlene wanted to go off on Mary and explain how wrong she was about everything. But she didn't.

Instead she muttered, "screw you," and stopped up to the dorm.

She didn't change her clothes.

She didn't wipe of her makeup.

She didn't brush her teeth.

She crawled in bed and slept a dreamless sleep.

* * *

The next morning, Adelaide could tell some drama had gone down.

Marlene was being even more bitchy than normal and Mary was openly glaring at Marlene across the table as she buttered her toast.

Adelaide felt Sirius kiss her cheek and pulled her close, oblivious as ever. "Did you get everything packed for the train?" he asked.

She sighed and nodded, turning away from her quarreling friends. "Yep..."

"You got Dorris?"

She patted her rucksack. "Mhmm..."

"Got your sketch book? Colored pencils?"

"Check and check."

"Chocolate frogs—"

"Padfoot, you already _know_ she's got everything," James griped.

"Someone's grumpy..." Peter muttered, raising his eyebrows.

Remus snorted into his pumpkin juice.

It was no secret that James had been in a mood all morning. They figured it had something to do with Lily sitting with Snape for breakfast.

"I'm not _grumpy_ —I'm just—"

"Cross?" Sirius said much too innocently.

James made a very grumpy expression and refused to humor him with a response.

"He's just upset he won't have Mary around anymore to talk about Quidditch," Adelaide teased.

Wrong thing to say.

James turned the color of the uneaten red apple on his plate and stood up. "You know I just forgot—I have to go get the—the thing—"

"The _thing_?" Remus said. "What thing? You were up half the night packing—"

"Forgot the—um... I'll be right back—" and then he ran off.

Adelaide blinked and looked around at her friends similarly bemused faces.

Sirius muttered, "What the hell is up with him," through a mouth full of pancakes.

Only one person looked unsurprised. Mary.

"Mare," Adelaide began. "Any idea why James is acting more spaz-like than normal?"

Mary shrugged. "Maybe he saw Finley?"

Adelaide felt her lip curl at the name. It wasn't Finley's fault. James had been drinking after all, but it still made her nauseous to think about him being with anyone other than Lilith. She still hadn't got over him being with Marlene for the .5 seconds they'd fake dated.

"Gross..."

Mary took a bite of her toast and shrugged. "Finley's nice..."

"I don't care... he belongs with Lily," Adelaide said.

She expected Mary to agree with her, to maybe gush about how cute the two of them would be together—maybe crack a joke about Lily being in denial. But she didn't. She frowned.

"I don't think it's fair to say he _belongs_ with anyone. Besides, it's not like Lily's even interested—"

Sirius choked on his pancakes.

"What are you _talking_ about? Of _course_ she's interested," Adelaide defended. "Marlene, back me up on this."

Marlene acted as if she hadn't heard anything stared down at her french toast with extra powdered sugar as if it made her sad, which was weird even for her.

"Okay," Mary said. She used that fake-happy voice she used sometimes when she talked about quidditch with James—like she didn't agree, but also didn't want to start a fight. "Okay, I'll admit, she might find him attractive or whatever—but she still doesn't want to date him."

"So?"

"So... I think you need to stop making him feel guilty for what happened with Finley."

" _Guilty_?" Adelaide squawked. It never occurred to her that she'd been trying to make him feel _guilty_... but now that Mary put it that way, she supposed she had been holding his actions against him. He fancied Lily. It seemed disloyal for him to entertain the thought of being with anyone else.

"Yeah... I mean... he's single... he can be with whoever he wants," Mary said slowly.

Marlene scowled.

Remus looked uncomfortable.

Sirius shoveled more banana pancakes into his mouth.

"Am I missing something here?" Peter said. "James fancies Lily... The Finely thing was an accident—he doesn't want to be with anyone else."

"Is that what he told you?" Marlene asked, staring Peter down. Of course she had to choose the moment to rejoin civilization from whatever planet her mind had flown to. It was a stupid question to begin with, (duh he only fancied Lily) but it seemed unfair to Adelaide that Marlene was looking at him so intensely and expecting him to actually answer, as if he didn't have a massive crush on her.

Peter's face went beat red and he stammered pitifully. It was like she was _trying_ to embarrass him. Adelaide's hand twitched... it would have been _so_ easy to hex a few birds to peck at her...

Fortunately for Marlene, and Peter as well, the conversation came to an abrupt halt.

At the front of the hall, Professor McGonagall dinged her butter knife against her goblet. "Students— Students— May I have your— Mr. Gudgeon! Put that fruit on the table where it belongs!" she snapped. Davey Gudgeon sheepishly set down the bowl of fruit he was slow dancing with, much to the amusement of the first year Hufflepuffs he was cheering up (Avery and his friends had died all their hair green in celebration of Slytherin winning the house cup). "Now," she began again, straightening her perfectly placed pointed hat. "The carriages will begin transporting to Hogsmeade station in five minutes—Prefects we ask that you _calmly_ escort your houses towards the front doors in an _orderly_ fashion."

The second she finished speaking the hall erupted into chaos. People were screaming and shoving, bottlenecking at the doors and soon they were all smooshed together, pushing to get the front of the line so they could get first dibs on the best train cars for the journey home. Adelaide climbed onto Sirius's back and avoided most of the claustrophobia.

They lost track of the others once they got outside, but she figured they'd rendezvous once they got to the station. "You're getting heavier..." Sirius mumbled, readjusting his grip under her legs as he maneuvered his way through the crowd.

" _Excuse_ _me_?"

"Not in a bad way... You just—" He chanced a look over his shoulder, making eye contact with her. She must have looked a little scary. "I'm going to stop talking now. Yeah? Yeah."

"Go towards the left—there's less people that way."

"Whatever you say, beautiful." He veered left like the trusty stead he was and it turned out she was right. There were less people. When she hopped off, he readjusted her rucksacks for her—though she suspected he was just double checking that she packed his chocolate frogs.

"You have a very attentive boyfriend, Adelaide Fawley," a dreamy voice said, nearly scaring the nargles out of her. She jumped and turned, accidentally whacking Sirius with the rucksack he'd been attending. "You should be thankful... not all girls are so lucky..."

Sirius, scratched the back of his neck, blushing ever so slightly. "Um... hey Pandora."

Adelaide knew Pandora was nice and all... but she secretly hoped they wouldn't get polited into having to share a train car with her or something. Her wide pale eyes freaked her out.

"You're use of the potion was very funny, Sirius Black," Pandora said with a lithe smile. "It made Lydia Green laugh so hard Pumpkin juice came out of her nose..."

Adelaide didn't know how to feel about that comment.

"Um... well, thanks... couldn't have done it without your help." Sirius was uncomfortable, but he smiled kindly (which was better than Adelaide could manage) and Pandora smiled wistfully back, eyes far away and watching something behind them.

A moment later the carriages pulled themselves down the path, the last of which stopped right in front of them.

Adelaide was ready to elbow some first years away and hop in—the Marauders made a bet that the first ones to train got first dibs on the window seats and some butterbeer—but Pandora was much more fascinated in staring at the empty space in front of the carriage.

Total nutter, she thought to herself.

Sirius frowned, looking between Pandora and the empty space in front of her. "Erm... you drop something?"

"No," Pandora said simply, reaching a hand into the air.

Adelaide thought maybe she was swatting a fly at first, but then she realized she was _petting_ the air. Of course they'd get stuck with Pandora—peddler of illegal potions, petter of imaginary animals.

As if reading her mind, Pandora turned her head and smiled at Adelaide. "You can't see them, can you, Adelaide Fawley?"

Adelaide blinked.

No, crazy girl, I can't see your imaginary pet, she thought.

"Uh..." she said.

Sirius's brows were knitted together—it was the same face he made when he was working on a really difficult paper for muggle studies or when he couldn't decide if Remus was being sarcastic or not. "What can't she see?"

Pandora pet the imaginary animal and closed her eyes as if it was sniffing her face or something. Must have been a big imaginary pet. Like a donkey or something. Or zebra. Yeah, Pandora seemed like the type of girl to have an imaginary zebra.

"The thestrals, of course..." Pandora said dreamily.

 _Thestrals_? Adelaide blinked and nearly lost her balance (thank goodness for Sirius).

"The _what's_?" Sirius asked, casually wrapping his arm around Adelaide keeping her vertical.

Some kid behind them, a Slytherin prefect, hollered to hurry up and get in because they were holding up the line.

Adelaide tugged at Sirius's arm. "Sirius, let's go—"

"No, Addy, I want to know what—"

"It's alright, Sirius Black," Pandora said calmly. "I think your girlfriend can explain them to you better than I could. She's very intelligent."

Sirius looked even more puzzled. Adelaide ignored Pandora's compliment and yanked Sirius into the nearly full carriage, careful to avoid looking at the invisible creature Pandora had been petting.

"Addy, what was she talking about?" he asked once they were seated, her rucksack settled in his lap. "What's a th—"

Adelaide was hyperaware of the eyes upon her... they were in a carriage full of Lydia Green's friends. It was the last place she wanted to have any type of conversation... especially this one. "I'll tell you later," she hissed.

"But I—"

Adelaide put her hand in his and silently pleaded that he not push the subject.

He let out a loud breath and began checking for the Chocolate frogs again. "Okay... fine..."

* * *

James Potter splashed his face with water... but it didn't change the fact that he was a total mess.

No, not just a mess. He was a category twelve hurricane in human form.

His brain felt like it had been fried by lightning. Like the fire-whiskey had never truly left his system and was making him do stupid things all the damn time.

He didn't even know why he ran out of the hall— everything was a blur— kind of like when he decided to kiss Finley at the soiree. Godric Gryffindor, he was an idiot.

He hadn't even had the _chutzpah_ to talk to Finley since then... He hadn't really had the _chutzpah_ to talk to anyone since everything happened. Well, he'd talked to Mary. But Mary was always easy to talk to. Talking to her was kind of like talking to Sirius... Which was nice because even talking to Sirius had been difficult lately. He told Sirius everything, of course, but it was kind of the bullet points— not the full drawn out story.

It wasn't that he didn't trust Sirius. He did. He trusted Sirius with his life. But he knew he had his own stuff to deal with. He was going home that day. Adelaide was going home that day. No matter how at peace with they seemed, James knew them. They were teetering on he edge of total meltdown. James needed to be strong for both of them. He couldn't let his mess collide with their mess.

Maybe that's why he bolted?

It was lucky he wandered out of the loo when he did, or else he might have missed the carriages all together. However, when he reached the carriages he almost wished he had.

The last of the students had already left, yet Mary stood upon the dying grass... with Evan... and they _didn't_ look happy. The thestral pulling the carriage snorted, hitting it's undead hoof against the ground, as if to say "Hurry up ya stupid wizards!"

James looked around.

It was the only carriage left. Of course.

He jogged to catch up, getting snippets of their conversation.

Evan was saying, "It's not too late to talk to Dumbledore—we don't even have to mention—"

And Mary was saying, "Can't— France—!" in a really shrill voice.

Oh Merlin's balls, James thought, it was about Mulciber. James felt sick at his stomach. Mary said he shouldn't blame himself for what happened... but he still did.

It was his fault no matter which way he looked at it. He should never have thrown an inter-house party. He should have never left Mary alone. He should have never left with Finley knowing that Avery and his goons were there. He should have never gotten drunk. James was a big fat idiot and Mary suffered because of it.

Evan ran his hand through his hair and cursed. Wait... he cursed? Since when did Evan use language like that? Actually... now that James thought about it... Evan had seemed very unlike himself as of late. James may have been a drunken mess at the party... but he remembered enough to never get into a fight with Evan and his right hook.

"Ugh! You're being _impossible_!" Evan cried out. "How can you be okay with letting that creep get away with what he did, just to protect your friend—"

"Addy's _your_ friend too, Evan!" Mary fired back. "And I _told_ you— we'll find another way to get him back—!"

"BUT IT WON'T BE ENOUGH!" Evan roared.

Mary took a step back and... she looked scared. Which pissed James off.

"Hey! Don't yell at her!" he called out like an idiot.

Evan had that crazy unhinged thing going on in his eyes that Sirius sometimes got when he was really, really angry. James had only seen it a handful of times— when Adelaide made alternate chaser their third year, when James turned his hair pink, and every time he got a letter his mum saying he was a massive disappointment. It was weird seeing it in someone else's eyes, but hey, they were cousins, right?

Evan looked like he wanted to deck James with his impressive right hook, then he turned to Mary... He saw the fear. His face fell instantly. "Mare, I'm sorry— I didn't mean to—"

"I think I'm going to walk to Hogsmeade..." she said, voice shaking.

James decided that if Evan made Mary cry he was going to pulverize him, right hook be damned.

Evan let out a breath. "Mary, come on— just get in the carriage—" He reached out for her and she flinched away.

"Hey, Man. Leave her alone. She said she was going to walk."

Evan trained his face into something resembling calm, still ignoring James. "You sure?" he asked Mary.

She nodded, glancing thankfully at James.

Evan looked between them both several sad times then climbed into the carriage and the Thestral clopped away happily.

Mary was a mess. Her eyes had dark circles, her hair fell limp at the sides of her face, her lips were chapped, and she looked thin... like she hadn't been eating enough.

But he knew enough about girls to not point this out.

He offered an arm. "Looks like we both need a walking buddy."

She snorted and pushed him, walking the path without him. "You're a dork."

He rolled his eyes and jogged to keep up. "Trouble in paradise?"

She sighed and ran a hand through her hair— or tried to, at least (it was really tangled). "Let's just say, Evan has more in common with Meathead Martin than I originally thought."

"Did he cheat on you?" James cringed at his own lack of tact but Mary didn't skip a beat.

"Potter—We've been through this. You can't cheat on someone you're not dating— but no... He's as loyal as they come..."

"You don't sound happy about it."

She frowned. "Well... I just... He's really upset about what happened... like more than me— and I'm the one who got poisoned, you know? And he's so obsessed with getting revenge on Mulciber... even if it means getting Addy in trouble..."

James nodded sagely. "Ah..."

"' _Ah..._?'" she repeated. "What do you mean ' _Ah_...'?"

"I mean, ' _Ah... I've located your problem_ , _McDonald,_ '" he said easily. "He's loyal to you... not Addy."

Mary kicked a clod of dirt down the path that resembled Evan's head. "That's ridiculous. He's one of her closest friends."

"Doesn't mean he's loyal to her. You're his... boo thing or whatever... he cares about you more than her. It's just facts, McDonald."

"First, don't ever say 'boo thing' again."

James waited for her keep speaking but she didn't. "And second?"

"There is no second."

"You can't just start by saying 'First' and not have a 'second' later on—"

"I believe I just did."

James kicked the Evan dirt clod.

"Why'd you run out of breakfast like a freaking spaz?" she asked.

He frowned. "I don't know."

"Your face looked like a tomato," she snorted.

"It did not!"

"Did too."

"You look like a tomato!" he said stupidly. She didn't. She looked more like an exhausted squirrel.

She kicked the Evan Dirt Clod this time, grinning. "Thank you."

"Arghuuh!" he threw his hands up. So much for her being easy to talk to.

She laughed and they walked down the path for several minutes before she spoke again. "Do you think it's a bad thing..."

"To look like a tomato?"

"That Evan is loyal to me and not Addy..."

"Oh..." She caught him off guard with that one. "Well... if it were me... I imagine I'd be bothered if someone I cared about was willing to sacrifice Sirius on my behalf."

This didn't cheer her up. "But what do I know?" he laughed. "I'm a total mess."

"Yeah..." she smiled slightly. "yeah, you kind of are."

James bumped his shoulder against hers in retaliation making her laugh. "You're not supposed to agree with me, you brat!"

* * *

" _There_ you are!" Adelaide exclaimed as James and Mary _finally_ climbed onto the train. A Gryffindor prefect ran off to let the conductor know they could finally leave. "We nearly left without you! What took you so long?!"

Mary and James exchanged looks. "We decided it was better to walk," James said.

Adelaide wasn't stupid. She knew there was more to the story, but for the time being she was just happy to have her friends back on the train. "Well come on— the others have been worried sick—Lily was about to start a search party."

James' eyes brightened. "For Mary," she amended. Annnd the light was extinguished.

Mary gave James a sad smile and bumped her shoulder against his. "Well, I'm sure she'll be happy to hear that he escorted me back safe and sound. Let's go, Potter."

* * *

Lily was not happy to hear this news. But not because of what you may think. She was of course happy James had been there to escort Mary back. What worried her was why Mary refused to ride with Evan. They had both been quite cagey when she asked. Well... _Mary_ had been. James, for once, was almost silent. He hardly even dared to make eye contact.

"We just needed some space, you know?" Mary had said.

Judging by Adelaide's face, she didn't buy it either.

"Right, well... Now that you're back..." Adelaide began, speaking to Mary. If there was more to her sentence, Lily never heard it. The two zipped down the corridor, giggling, leaving Lily _alone_ with an extremely uncomfortable James Potter.

His face looked like a tomato. Which is to say it made her sick to her stomach.

She still couldn't get rid of the image of him and Finley together...

"Y-your socks are cool," he blurted out.

Lily blinked. She looked down at her feet. She was wearing her deer socks. Of course. "Um... Thanks."

He ruffled the back of his hair and shifted on his feet, but didn't make any move to leave.

"Well... I-I should go find Marlene..." she took a step away.

"You— You can keep the blanket!" he blurted out once again. This time he visibly cringed.

"Pardon?"

"Um... The blanket... the one I loaned you... You can keep it..." he said.

"Oh... Well I sort of already returned it... I dropped it when I saw—" When she saw him kissing Finley.

James looked like he was going to be sick. "Right... Right..."

The train chugged forward and she reached out to the window for balance. "I should go..."

"Lily..." he said.

She forced herself to look him in the eyes, stomach flipping. "Yes?"

He gulped. "I-I hope you have a really lovely summer."

She had a feeling he had rehearsed that line. She smiled despite herself. "You too, James."

And then she walked away.

* * *

Sirius waited for what felt like forever for Adelaide.

"Ugh!" He slumped down in his seat. "What's _taking_ her so long..."

Remus shrugged, not even looking up from his pirate book. "You know how girls are... they like to chat."

Sirius furrowed his brows. "Still... It's been at least an hour..."

"They're probably gabbing about what a prick Evan is," James said, just before commanding his Knight to demolish Peter's Rook.

Peter frowned at the chess board as if anticipating an early defeat.

"Evan?" Sirius asked, shoving a handful of Bertie Botts into his mouth indiscriminately. "What'd he do this time?"

"Well he screamed at her for one," James said before quickly recounting the whole story. Sirius got the feeling he glossed over some parts, but didn't press the matter. He figured James had his reasons.

"I mean... I don't like the screaming at Mary bit— but it makes sense he'd be upset," Remus said, taking a sip of his butterbeer.

"Still... Crazy eyes..." Sirius whistled. "Evan's a chill bloke... To get him _that_ high strung... I think there's got to be more to the story."

Peter commanded a pawn towards certain death.

"I think you're right..." James said, frowning. "I mean you saw the way he pulverized Mulciber...I didn't think he had it in him..."

It got quiet after that and Sirius nearly forgot how impatient he was for Addy to come back.

Until she returned, that was.

Damn, she was pretty. She was the kind of pretty that smacked you in the face sometimes when you weren't ready for it. She had the kind of smile that blinded you for a moment. The eyes that totally knew more than you did and relished in it. Ugh. He was hopeless and he didn't even care.

"Miss me?" she smirked, squeezing in beside him and mussing up his hair.

"Yes," the others all answered in unison.

"Merlin, he wouldn't shut up about you," James groaned.

"Shut it, Potter." Sirius kicked James and leaned in to kiss Adelaide...

A empty peppermint toad box bounced off his head before he made contact. "Ow!"

"NO! This is a _no_ snogging zone!" James hollered.

"Oh come _on_!" Adelaide cried. "It's our last day—"

James crossed his arms over his chest. "No!"

Sirius threw the box back at James. "Oh, so you can shove your tongue down _Finley's_ throat all out in the open but I can't even—"

Remus groaned. "You just had to say the F word..."

"GET _OUT_!" James demanded, angry and green, pointing towards the door.

Sirius knew he was just feeling guilty about kissing Finley. He knew he'd pushed his luck by bringing her up. But still, he didn't like it when people yelled at him. "FINE!"

He flipped over the chess board on his way out. Peter didn't seem all that upset about it.

"Sirius..." Adelaide said.

"The _nerve_ of him!" Sirius ranted, walking down the corridor in search of a empty compartment. Which was stupid because there probably weren't any.

"Sirius..."

"I've never judged him—not _once_! Not even when he snogged Marlene for that prank! But when I try to kiss my girlfriend— my bloody _girlfriend_!— he throws a complete fit! We've been together what, eight months now? And he _still_ hasn't gotten over it!"

"Sirius..."

"What?" he turned to look back at her and very nearly fell on her. She had stood up on her tip toes, and pulled him down by the neck, surprising him with a long, perfect kiss that left him dizzy, brain fuzzy. "Woah..."

She smirked. "Woah?"

"Yeah, woah. What do you want? A high five?"

She shrugged. "Might be nice."

He laughed and put up his hand. "Top notch snogging, Fawley."

She slapped his hand with hers and laughed. "That's more like it."

* * *

By some miracle they did end up finding a compartment. It smelled like mildew, had more than a few suspicious stains, and contained a spring that had escaped from the fabric benches which no amount of mending charms would fix— but it was empty so it was perfect.

After a brief snog session (because, why not?) Adelaide settled at Sirius's side, curled up and cozy, sketching an armadillo that was starting to look more like an aardvark... or maybe a really fat niffler... whilst Sirius munched away on his chocolate frogs.

"Addy," Sirius asked with his mouth full.

She hummed, eyes not leaving the ugly misshapen creature she was drawing. The nose was always the tricky part.

"Do you think Evan's been acting kind of... weird lately?" he asked.

She shrugged. "I mean... I guess... but I think he's just upset about what happened with Mary..."

Sirius chewed (thoughtfully, Adelaide imagined). "Yeah... yeah you're probably right..."

They lapsed into silence once more. Adelaide worked on fixing the armadillo's left nostril while Sirius finished off his chocolates and played with her hair, nodding off here and there in the steady chugging of the train.

"Addy..."

"Mhmm..."

"What's a thestral?"

Her color pencil accidentally drew a large gash through her armadillo's ugly face.

"Its not one of those weird made up creatures like a platypus, is it?"

Adelaide blinked and looked up at him. "Uh... Sirius... platypuses are real..."

He scoffed and rolled his eyes. Adelaide thought about correcting him, but she anticipated it would be more trouble that it was worth.

She sighed, erasing the horrible line as best she could.

She _really_ didn't want to talk about thestrals... but she was done keeping things from Sirius.

"Thestrals are real... they're a type of... Erm... flying horse thing..." That had to be the absolute worst description of a thestral ever given. If Regulus was there he would have smacked her.

"Like an invisible Pegasus?" Sirius asked.

Her pencil trembled in her hand, hovering over the delicate line she needed to fix. "Um... sort of... but they're not always invisible... only _certain_ people can see them..."

Sirius frowned. "Certain people? Do they get to pick?"

Adelaide could tell he had his feelings hurt that the weird invisible horse hadn't picked him. As silly as it was, she found it really cute and it eased some of her nerves.

"No, pads. They don't get to pick..."

He relaxed slightly. "Then... how... how does it work...?"

The light in the compartment dimmed; a wooded area raced past the window in a blur of green.

She really, _really_ didn't want to talk about this.

Sirius must have picked up on her mood. "Ads, you okay?"

She nodded, snuggling closer into his side. "Yeah... I'm um— well they can only be seen by people who have seen... er... _death_..."

Her last word hung in the mildewy air of their compartment.

She had no idea until that day that there were even thestrals on the grounds... but in hindsight it made a lot of sense with the horseless carriages and whatnot.

What _didn't_ make sense was why _she_ couldn't see them.

Sirius turned to face her. "But—"

She could read the thoughts in his eyes better than if she could perform occlumency.

But she _had_ seen death. _Alexander_ 's death.

She'd relived it that first full moon in January, then countless times in nightmares and flashbacks. She'd watched his lifeless body, bloodied and limp, ripped to shreds in her mother's arms.

She'd felt the grief.

Those waves of all consuming heartbreak that, while less frequent, never really went away.

"I know," she said.

She was cuddled so close, that she could feel the uptick of his heartbeat quicken. He was worried. "Well... well there's got to be a reason," he said in the same voice he used when he was concocting off the wall prank ideas or methods of kidnapping or Flora Fawley conspiracy theories. "They obliviated you—maybe it's a side effect or—or something."

Of course Adelaide had already thought of this. The moment Pandora revealed the animals' identity her mind started racing with possible explanations for why she couldn't see them.

Was it because of the memory charm? Had it broken something within her? Or perhaps dulled the magical optical trigger? Was it because she'd forgotten for so long? Maybe they would appear when she remembered more? Perhaps she had to remember the funeral too? Was it maybe a side effect of whatever the hell Dumbledore had done to fix her nightmares? Had he scooped out some memories while he was at it?

Or... or maybe the answer was simpler...

No.

She bit the inside of her cheek.

No, she _couldn't_ entertain that thought. She _wouldn't_. If she went down _that_ rabbit hole she'd drive herself legitimately insane. Going home was going to be hard enough.

She _had_ seen death. There _had_ to be a better explanation.

"Yeah..." she said as Sirius laced his fingers in hers. "Yeah, you're probably right."


	106. 106

**Chapter 106-Gibberish**

Adelaide's arrival home did not go the way she expected.

Though, to be fair, her expectations were perhaps a _tad_ unrealistic. They mostly revolved around her mother, in a blind fit of rage, evil cackles, and ominous thunder/lighting, zapping her with the cruciatus curse whilst Adelaide wiped her shoes on the welcome mat.

Not only was it impossible to have thunder and lightning whilst within the manor, but they didn't even own a welcome mat.

Still. Even if she _had_ been more realistic, it wouldn't have been what she expected.

After the familiar swirling pull of apperation, Adelaide's feet found themselves no longer situated on the platform of Kings Cross station where she'd said her last tearful goodbyes, but rooted upon the sprawling grounds of Fawley Manor in all its summer splendor.

It was late afternoon, and the freshly bloomed roses danced in the breeze, speckled with the gold setting sun that peaked through the bows of ancient oaks high above. The lawn and shrubs were the perfect balance of wild yet manicured, lining the long walk to the stone steps to the front entrance. Everything was so colorful and blossoming and overflowing with life... It _almost_ made the Manor seem like a happy place.

Up ahead, her father stood tall and proud in dark blue robes, one single sprig of pale blonde hair jostled out of place and flapping in the wind, her trunk and Berwin's empty cage levitated at his side.

"Adelaide?" he called.

Adelaide, unable to stop herself, picked a single cream rose at the stem then half-jogged the short path to the door.

She froze at the threshold.

Her father stood just inside the grand marble atrium, flicking his wand and sending her belongings up to her room, presumably.

And just beyond him stood a woman.

Her dark green robes shimmered when they caught the light, her dark hair pinned up with an elegant jeweled barrette. She was turned away, so Adelaide couldn't see her face, only her silhouette. Her wand flicked through the air as if it was an extension of herself, igniting chandelier candles and calling bouquets of flowers into existence upon table tops and the mantel piece.

One would never guess that very same wand, which was now being used for interior decorating, had performed an unforgivable on her daughter just months prior.

Of course, that was the _only_ thing on Adelaide's mind.

She fiddled with the rose, trying to keep the panic out of her voice, trying to not show weakness. "D-dad... um..."

Her parents turned in perfect unison.

Adelaide made a point to look only at her father. He was there, she reminded herself. There was nothing to worry about as long as he was there.

"Dinner is in an hour," her father said. "Why don't you go to your room and freshen up?"

Adelaide picked off a thorn from her stolen flower and took a rattled breath, then lurched forward.

When she reached the staircase, hand grazing the smooth banister for support, she _thought_ she'd successfully avoided any further social interactions. She was wrong.

"I laid out a dress for you—" Cathryn said quickly.

Adelaide peered back at her, more out of reflex than conscious thought.

Cathryn's dark brows furrowed, creating creases in her forehead to accompany the dark circles under her eyes. She held her wand horizontally in both hands, tapping her fingers against the wood, almost as if she was nervous, and her hair had many more grey streaks than Adelaide remembered... it was all very odd.

"It's from Flora's shop," her mother added. "Lavender..."

Adelaide blinked.

"Uh... thanks..." was the only reply she could manage.

Cathryn nodded curtly then returned to decorating.

No evil laughter.

No thunder and lighting.

No torture.

Only a dress.

It was as remarkably unremarkable as a reunion could be.

Her father didn't seem surprised in the least (though, to his credit, Filip never seemed surprised about anything). Still, Adelaide didn't know what to make of it.

* * *

When Adelaide reached her room it was just the way she left it over Christmas Hols. Well, it was a bit cleaner... but the basics were all there. The curtains were drawn back, letting the in the golden setting sun which illuminated the lavender masterpiece hung up on her wardrobe in the corner.

Adelaide considered the dress with its simple flowing skirt and winglike bell-sleeves. Flora was very good at her job... Adelaide figured Flora must have been the one to convince her mother that lavender was the way to go.

With a sigh, she crossed the room and began rummaging through her trunk, putting away her belonging as she searched for the enchanted mirror. Her books joined those in her bookcase, the hairbrush and complement bestowing mirror from Mary found their home on her vanity beside the box with her ancestors frilly diadem, and Dorris with her ink-stained fluff, took up residence upon the four poster bed on a throw-pillow throne.

When Adelaide finally reached Sirius through the mirror twenty minutes later she could only see his feet.

"Sirius?"

"Once second—"

"Sirius, I can't see you—"

"I know—just give me a moment—" There was a loud thud and the smudged image of big feet vibrated.

"Sirius, what are you doing?"

There was rustling and a few more smaller thuds before his face came into view, upside down, a grin partially hidden by dangling locks of dark curly hair. "Cleaning."

Adelaide furrowed her brow. "Sounds like you're dancing with trolls."

Sirius laughed and again she was graced with the image of his sock-clad feet walking about his bedroom. They had little images of cartoon Vikings running about with hammers and axes.

"Are those Moony's socks?" she called.

He placed a teetering stack of books onto the ground obscuring her view, then tossed a few sweets packages that topped the mirror giving her an excellent view of his ceiling. "Whoops," he laughed. "I suppose they are."

Adelaide rolled her eyes then went to work on making her hair presentable for dinner while he finished with whatever chaos he was troubling himself with back in London.

After several more thumps and throws of various belongings, Sirius finally let out a sigh and the image changed so she could see his face. He was sitting on the floor and she suspected he placed the mirror on his desk chair. "There. Okay, so how's it going, Addykins? I'm guessing the old hag hasn't cursed you or else you'd have been crying by now."

"Why are you on the floor?" she asked, wand twirling a lock of hair into a curl.

Sirius smirked then moved the mirror and showed what looked like a hole in the floorboards.

"Sirius! What in the world—"

"Relax, Ads!" he laughed, placing the mirror back on the chair. "I'm going to fix it! _After_ I hide a few things, that is." He held up one of his Lord of the Rings books and wiggled it before tossing it into the makeshift hidden compartment.

Adelaide was once again astounded by how someone could simultaneously be so brilliant and so stupid. "Aren't you worried your mother will find out?"

Sirius shook his head, tossing another book in. "Nah, if she starts hunting for contraband I doubt she'll go looking in the floor."

He had a point... but still it made her uneasy. It was hard to brush off those images of him beaten and bruised by his mother's hand—

"You never answered my question, Addykins!" he said, snapping her out of her reverie. "How's it been with the hag?"

Adelaide frowned, glancing towards the wardrobe. "She got me a dress."

Sirius raised an eyebrow and she relayed the whole anticlimactic arrival. When she was finished, Sirius started tossing sweets in with the muggle books. "Weird... you think Fil could have threatened her?"

Adelaide began applying some mascara. That thought hadn't actually occurred to her. "I dunno... maybe... whatever he did seems to be working... she was positively _tame_."

Sirius snorted then indiscriminately threw a handful of every flavor beans in his mouth.

"Don't you have to get ready for dinner as well?" she asked.

Sirius shrugged, mouth too full to answer.

"Sirius... you can't make them angry tonight—you need to get them to sign the internship form."

"Don't worry, Ads. I've got a plan."

"A plan to fill up on sweets before dinner?"

He rolled his eyes. "Addy, they're _going_ to sign it. Do you really think Mum will pass up the opportunity to kick me out of the house five days a week?"

Adelaide suspected that locking him in his room would achieve the same ends as far as Walburga was concerned, but he was in a rather good mood and she didn't want to make him cross.

"You'll mirror me in the morning, right? Tell me how it goes?"

"Of course, love," he smiled.

Adelaide smiled back, her heart finally coming to terms with the fact that this was the closest they would be for a while... at least until she was in London with Flora. And there was always the galas...

"I think there's a gala next week," she said.

"Oh goodie..." he responded flatly.

"You should ask your parents if you're—"

 _Knock knock knock_

 _"_ Adelaide?" a voice called, muffled from the other side of the door. Her father's voice.

Cold fear flooded Adelaide's body. Her wand fell out of her hand, clattering onto the vanity as she hastily shut the mirror on Sirius's surprised face, then shoved it into the drawer.

"Just a moment!" she called, cursing herself for not casting a muffling charm.

She padded towards the door, then took a steadying breath. When she opened the door her father immediately walked in, looking around the room.

"By all means... come on in..." she muttered.

He scrutinized the windowed double doors that lead the balcony. "Who were you speaking to?"

Adelaide blinked, heart racing. She had to play dumb. "What?" she laughed awkwardly.

He rounded to face her, face hard as the marble fireplace by which she had situated herself. "I heard voices all the way down the corridor. Whom were you speaking to, Adelaide?"

It was getting harder to fight the panic rising up within her. If he found out about the mirror, not only would she be in massive trouble, but he'd almost certainly take it away and she'd be _completely_ cut off from Sirius. The thought was unbearable.

"Adelaide, answer me," he ordered.

"I-I was..." Her eye caught on a little ball of fluff across the room. "I was only talking to Dorris, Dad."

His eyes narrowed, silently demanding an explanation. Adelaide pointed to the bed. "Dad, meet Dorris... Dorris, meet Dad," she laughed nervously.

Mr Fawley's gaze silently moved from the stuffed animal back to his daughter. "I heard _two_ voices, Adelaide."

Adelaide shrugged. "Well I sometimes make her talk back..." She cleared her throat then attempted an impersonation of Sirius's voice. _"Hello, Mr. Dad. Pleased to meet you! Don't mind the ink-stains—hazards of war._ "

Mr. Fawley did not look entertained... which was a shame because Adelaide found herself rather funny.

He stood there for several uncomfortable seconds, out of place in the frilly room. Perhaps he thought that if he imposed upon her long enough he'd force the truth out of her.

"Um... did you need something?" she asked.

Mr. Fawley imperiously looked about the room then walked towards the door as he spoke. "You need to be downstairs for dinner in ten minutes. Be sure you're dressed on time."

Adelaide watched him as he reached for the door. "Yes, sir."

"And Adelaide," his voice lowered, turning to face her. "It would be best if you didn't... _antagonize_ your mother."

 _"Antagonize_ her?" Adelaide repeated, incredulous.

Mr. Fawley sighed wearily. "Adelaide, I believe you're self aware enough to know your own temperamental nature."

She crossed her arms over her chest. "Here's an idea. Why don't you send her back to Austria with her stupid sister? That way she won't be affected by my 'temperamental nature'— she won't even have to _look_ at me— better yet, she can pretend I don't _exist_ just like she does with Al—"

"Now, that is quite enough," Mr. Fawley said sternly, putting an abrupt end to her soliloquy. "Your mother is staying here. This is her home as much as it is yours." Adelaide opened her mouth to protest, but he continued. "I realize this is a difficult transition... especially given the... the _unpleasantness_ over the holidays... but we _all_ must make the best of it—"

"But she—"

"Which means you will _both_ be on your best behavior so as to not... _provoke_ the other."

Adelaide gritted her teeth.

"Do you understand, Adelaide?"

Her jaw tightened.

Oh, she understood him alright.

He was only insisting that they do what Fawley's did best: Shove any 'unpleasantness' into a cupboard of other 'unpleasant' skeletons and go on living as spectacularly superficial and belligerently _pleasant_ a life as one could possibly live. Instead of picking up where they left off, they were going to act as if all the horrible things from Christmas break hadn't happened at all. They were to act as if her mother _hadn't_ performed an unforgivable on her, as if they _hadn't_ exterminated the memory of her brother, as if that same brother _hadn't_ died a hero's death to protect her.

In other words, they were going to pretend that everything was fine when it wasn't.

And Adelaide, if she wanted to make it through this summer, was going to get on board... whether she liked it or not.

"Do you understand?" he asked again.

"Yes, sir."

Even with the promise of Mimsy's mashed potatoes, Adelaide was in no rush to pretend to get along with her mother. She sulked and pouted down the stairs at a snails pace, lavender dress fluttering behind her as she did so ( _literally_ fluttering: Flora had apparently enchanted the lace butterflies upon the skirt to flap their wings when the fabric moved).

However, her resolute sulking came to a screeching halt when a child's voice cried out, "Evvie, is that your girlfriend?!" from down below.

Adelaide gripped the banister, eyes flying down to the atrium. The voice, evidently, belonged to a small girl who couldn't be older than five or six, tugging on the robes of a blushing boy. A boy Adelaide knew _very_ well.

"Evan!" Adelaide raced down the stairs, two at a time.

"Eloise," Evan said, stooping down to the little girl's level, "I told you... Addy's my friend whose a girl... not my _girlfriend_."

"She's _really_ pretty..." Eloise whispered loudly behind her hand.

Adelaide fought to keep from giggling.

Evan shot her an apologetic smile, rising back to full height. "Addy, this is my little sister Eloise—"

"I turned _five_ last week!" the girl announced, presenting five proud fingers to them. "Mummy says I'm a 'little lady' now so I get to eat dinner with the grown ups!"

Adelaide laughed. "Well we're happy to have you, Lady Eloise!"

Eloise beamed at Adelaide... then quickly ran off to look at the pretty flowers Mrs. Fawley had decorated the room with earlier.

"Sorry... she's a lot..." Evan chuckled bashfully, scratching the back of his neck.

"She's adorable!" Adelaide laughed then lightly punched his arm. "Why didn't you tell me you were coming for dinner?"

Evan shrugged, keeping a keen watch on his little sister. "Didn't know until I got home..."

Adelaide nodded. Eloise was now hopping between the floor tiles, pink dress swishing, completely indifferent to either Adelaide's or their parents' conversations.

"How has has it been?" Evan asked quietly. "Being home?"

Adelaide rolled her eyes. "We're playing nice, apparently."

Evan hummed, still watching Eloise hopping around, now on one leg. She looked back every so often and grinned at him, pleased to have an audience. "Probably for the best..."

"So..." Adelaide said, still in hushed tones. "I heard you and Mary got in a bit of a row..."

A frown pulled at Evan's brow but he didn't answer.

"She called you a baboonish mountain troll on the train."

"Sounds about right."

Adelaide's fingers fiddled with one of the lace butterflies on her skirt. "I'm really sorry, Evan..." she said. "Mary told me why you were cross... and for what it's worth I think we should have told Dumbledore everything... It's not right that Mulciber got away with what he did—"

"He won't," he said through his teeth, jaw tight. Anger burned at the edges of his blue-green eyes. "He _won't_ get away with it."

"What do you—"

"Adelaide!" boomed a voice from behind them. Adelaide turned on her heal and came face to face with a burly blonde man with Eloise's beaming smile. "Why, aren't you a vision! Evan, doesn't she look nice?" Mr. Rosier said pointedly.

"She looks like a _princess_!" Eloise squealed before Evan could respond, hiding behind her mother's skirts.

Adelaide blushed, Evan fought to not roll his eyes, and the adults all laughed. "Um... Dad, shouldn't we head to dinner?" she said, tucking her hair behind her ear.

Even with Evan there, Adelaide wished she had eaten dinner in her room. The meal began with some bland soup paired with bland conversation amongst the adults about taxes and work and when the main course was served (roasted duck that looked horrifyingly like Wallace) they all blabbed about how they wished the Daily Prophet would stop all the fear-mongering about dark magic and disappearances. And Adelaide, to her father's delight, kept her mouth shut the entire dinner. She didn't even make a face when her mother made a comment on the ineffective werewolf legislation.

But what Mr. Fawley didn't realize was that she had mentally checked out of the conversation and began making a mental list of all the spells she would need to begin construction on the greenhouse the next morning.

She was pondering sticking charms in particular when Evan kicked her foot under the table. Coming out of her daze, she heard Mr. Rosier chuckle, "Following in the old man's footsteps, eh?"

Everyone was looking at her expectantly, even little Eloise.

"Uh..." she said intelligently.

"I think Addy would make an excellent Auror," Evan chimed in, donning his most charming smile.

They must have been talking about the internship. She laughed awkwardly. "Actually I—"

"Oh, dear! I hope _not_!" Mrs. Rosier interrupted. "It's a terribly dangerous profession."

"Mum... Dad literally tames dragons for a living," Evan laughed.

"Well that's different, Evan..." Mrs. Rosier said, carving into her roasted duck. "He's a _man_."

Now, Adelaide had no burning desire to become an Auror or a dragon tamer or anything else for that matter (except _maybe_ a curse breaker for Gringotts)... butshe balked at the idea that she should refrain from a dangerous profession simply because she was a girl.

Apparently, Mrs. Fawley felt the same.

A terrifying smile stretched across Cathryn's lips as she calmly placed her goblet on the dining table. "Adelaide is perfectly capable of taming dragons or capturing criminals or doing whatever _dangerous_ profession she so chooses..."

Mrs. Rosier stared back at her, irritated. At her side Eloise determinately stirred all her food together like it was a potion brew, blissfully ignorant of the tension in the room.

"Just so long as it doesn't involve potions, that is," Evan added with an awkward smile. "Addy with a cauldron... now _that's_ dangerous, " he laughed.

Adelaide elbowed Evan. "I only blew it up _once_!" she hissed.

"Yeah, but Mary said you singed off your eyebrows—"

"They grew back!"

"—And that you burnt Sirius's hair—"

"He needed a haircut anyway!"

Mr. Fawley cleared his throat.

Adelaide blinked then sat back in her seat.

Mrs. Fawley considered Evan carefully as she sipped her drink.

"Personally," Evan said, a little more composed. "I think Mary would have a hippogriff if you didn't at least try out for the Harpies when you've graduated..."

Adelaide snorted. "I dare say you're right, Rosier... Knowing her, she'd drag me to the trials kicking and screaming if she had to."

"Mary..." Mr. Fawley said, feigning interest. "She's the one who does the commentating at the games, yes?"

Adelaide didn't know why he was asking. He knew perfectly well she did the commentating.

"Yes, sir!" Evan answered brightly. "She knows _everything_ about Quidditch! I swear she could tell you what any given player in the league ate for—"

"I'm sorry, whom are we speaking about?" Mrs. Rosier snapped.

Evan's smile faltered. "M-my friend Mary McDonald... Well our—she's really _our_ friend... She's Addy's best mate... I-I'm pretty sure I told you about her... She came to the gala last summer... She wore that pink dress..."

Mrs. Rosier looked as if she'd smelled something horrible, then set her sights on her daughter. "Eloise, stop playing with your food!"

Eloise froze. She was right in the middle of trying to cast a spell on her mashed potatoes with a butter knife. She glanced at Evan who flashed her a small reassuring smile, then she placed the knife on the table and hung her head low.

"McDonald..." Mr. Rosier said, deep in thought, clueless that his daughter was in any distress. "Doesn't her father work in the ministry?"

Adelaide didn't like where this was going. All she could think of is how horrified poor paranoid Mr. McDonald would be if he knew that the Rosiers were speaking about him and his family. Why did her father have to bring Mary up?

"Um..." Evan looked to Adelaide. "I think—I think so..."

Mrs. Fawley gave Evan a strange look that Adelaide couldn't read. "Adelaide, why don't you show Evan the gardens?" she said carefully.

"She hasn't finished her dinner," Filip said.

Adelaide looked at the untouched roasted duck upon her plate. There was no way she was eating a murdered Wallace... and besides anything was better than staying at that table. "I'm not really hungry..."

"Well it's too late to be out in the gardens," Filip said. "Why don't you show him around the manor instead?"

"Evan, you haven't seen our library, have you?" Adelaide asked.

"No. You said you'd charm the books to attack me if I ever stepped foot in there..."

Eloise giggled and Adelaide smirked. "I promise I'll keep the birdy books from hurting you, Ev."

Evan didn't look all that convinced. Adelaide imagined he was having post traumatic, hedgehogy, flashbacks from his prank filled stay the summer before last...

"Evan, my boy," Mr. Rosier said with a sly smile. "If you can handle yourself against baby Norwegian Ridgebacks I'm sure you can hold your own against some dastardly books..."

Cathryn donned a smile once more, though, less terrifying than before. "Well then... I suppose it's decided."

Adelaide and Evan were halfway to their feet when Eloise cried, "I want to go, too!"

Mrs. Rosier furiously shushed her but Eloise was having none of it, tears springing in her big blue-green eyes. "No! Mummy you said I was a Little Lady now! I want to go with the big kids!"

Maybe it was the fact that Mrs. Rosier didn't want Eloise to go, or that Eloise was cuter than a niffler in a tutu, or maybe it was because Adelaide wanted to spoil her mother's obvious plot to get her and Evan alone, but something made Adelaide say, "She can come with us! I really don't mind!" with the a charming smile that could rival Evan Rosier's.

Eloise grinned at Adelaide then switched gears, pouting up at the her mother. " _Please_ , mummy? She said I could... I'll be really, _really_ good... I'll do everything Evvie and his girlfriend say..."

"She's not my—!"

Adelaide kicked him to get him to shut up.

Down the table, Mr. Fawley was dangerously closed to smiling, whether at Eloise's cuteness or Mrs. Rosier's discomfort, Adelaide didn't know.

"Oh, alright!" Mrs. Rosier conceded. Eloise cheered, clambering to get out of her seat. "But don't go running off and don't touch anything that isn't yours! And you two don't be gone too long, it's nearly her bedtime!"

* * *

After a long walk, and even longer discussion with Eloise on if the books would really attack "Evvie" and if Adelaide really was a princess, the little trio reached their destination.

Eloise froze at the entrance, eyes wide. "That's a _lot_ of books..." she said in awe. A moment later she turned to Adelaide and Evan just behind her. "Princess Addy, are there any fun books?"

Adelaide stroked her chin. "Hmm... Fun books? I don't think so... No... I'm afraid we only have _boring_ books about pirates and dragons and _princesses_ —"

Eloise squealed and yanked on Adelaide's hand for her to show her the 'boring' books.

Once Eloise was nestled in a corner surrounded by princess picture books, Adelaide and Evan plopped down on couches near the fire and the ancient portrait of Roesia Fawley. It was an excellent location... close enough that they could watch Eloise... but not so close that they had to _talk_ to her.

"You're really good with her, you know?" Evan said with a smile. "You could make some pretty good gold as a babysitter... _Princess Addy_."

Adelaide smiled, shoving him.

Evan sat back against the couch, sighing. "Bet you five sickles they only kicked us out to plot our wedding."

"Gross..." she shivered. "No offense."

"None taken."

Eloise's giggles reverberated against the vaulted ceiling of the library. Evan turned his face to watch her, sadness washing over him.

"Evan..." Adelaide said carefully. "What did you mean earlier... when you said Mulciber wouldn't get away with what he did to Mary?"

"I dunno, Ads." He closed his eyes wearily. "I just said it to say it."

"But you sounded like you had a plan or something—"

Evan let out a big breath. "Look, Mary's already angry with me— I don't really want to get into it with you too. Can we _please_ just not talk about that creep?"

Adelaide's curiosity was burning within her, but this really wasn't the time to push him... Not when they were both tired and with Eloise around. At the Gala on the other hand... when she had Regulus and Sirius for back up... That might be an excellent time to annoy him into divulging his revenge plots... and hopefully let her help.

"Alright, well... what _do_ you want to talk about?" she asked.

Evan looked around the room, from the tapestries of horses running about, to the tall looming shelves that rose into the rafters, before settling on the portrait right in front of them. "Who's that lady in the picture? Family member?"

The painted woman before them couldn't have been older than Flora, and truth be told she resembled Flora in many ways. She was rather pretty, very pale with the signature Fawley pale blonde hair, and piercing blue eyes... not that Evan or Adelaide could _see_ her eyes at the moment— she was doing what she _always_ did: slept, napping the night away in her in her high-backed wicker chair, medieval garb, and infamous glistening diadem. Adelaide didn't know how one could possibly sleep soundly in a corset, but maybe it was more comfortable for paintings.

"Roesia Fawley," Adelaide said with a small smile. "She's awesome. Did you know she was the only witch to attend the International Warlock Convention of 1289?"

"Impressive."

"And you see the diadem she's wearing?"

Evan squinted at the painting. "Yeah?"

"I've got it up in my room."

Evan blinked then looked back at her. "Wait... _really_?"

"Mhmm... I wore it to your gala last summer."

"But that's... that's got to be... Merlin... nearly _700_ years old... At least!" Evan exclaimed. "And you've just had it hidden away in your _bedroom_?"

"Obviously it hasn't been there the _whole_ 700 years— pretty sure it was missing before Ri—" Adelaide's words caught in her throat. She'd forgotten that _Mr. Riddle_ was the one to locate that particular artifact... and something told her that revealing his hand in its recovery would only distress poor Evan.

Evan, thankfully, was still reeling from the fact that she kept a priceless historical artifact on her cluttered vanity that he hadn't notice her jilted sentence.

Suddenly, he turned towards her, eyes wide with Eloise's same sense of wonder. "Does she talk?"

"Talk?" Adelaide ran a hand through her hair, glancing up at the painting. "Erm... well... sort of..."

Evan tilted his head to the side. "What do you mean _sort of_? Is it broken?"

In the distance, Eloise giggled loudly and mumbled something about a cute unicorn.

Adelaide glanced from the little girl back to Roesia. "Well... She _talks_... but she lived way back in the Middle Ages... All she speaks is Middle English* or something—its just a bunch of gibberish—no one's understood her for ages..."

Evan's little boy wonder faded a little... but didn't quite die out yet. "Well could we _try_? Middle English is still sort of English, right?"

"I dunno, Ev... I don't want to bother her..."

"She's a painting in a dusty old library... I'm sure she's long overdue for a chat... Please, Ads?" he asked, eyes all big and heartbreaking like his little sisters. "Think of the things she's seen..."

"She's a portrait not an oracle, Evan."

"Still... Come on, Ads, aren't you even a _little_ bit curious?" he said. "Old painting like that, I bet she knows tons of family stories and secrets..."

Adelaide pursed her lips, looking from him to the painting several times. He had a point... "Fine!" she huffed. "Fine we can talk to her, but _you're_ waking her up! Us Fawley's value our sleep and I do _not_ want to be cursed out by a painting."

Evan grinned like he was eight instead of sixteen, sprang from his seat, reached, and tapped on the painting near the bottom right corner. "Erm... excuse me... erm Mrs. Fawley?"

The painting let out a snorting snore.

Evan tried again, a little louder this time, gaining Eloise's attention. "Excuse me, Roesia? My friend and I would like to speak with you... if that's quite alright?"

The woman wriggled a little, nose scrunching up, like a gnat was buzzing near her face.

Eloise appeared at Adelaides side, grinning. "Evvie _always_ tries to talk to the paintings at home..." she whispered loudly to Adelaide. "They always pretend to be asleep..." she giggled.

Adelaide let out a little giggle as well.

After several more attempts Adelaide was ready to call it a night and suggest that they come over to try again another time, but then Evan's persistence payed off.

"Ach! Blynde bayardes!" the portrait exclaimed, blue flying open. Clearly she wasn't expecting visitors.

Evan stared at her in awe.

Roesia glared at him. "A-wecchen me bed bowe with _Crac_ a-bouten _clappen_!" she screeched. " _Dumble_!"

Just by the way she spat the last word, Adelaide got the feeling "Dumble" was a not-so-nice word in her world.

He blinked then looked back at Adelaide, as if she was going to translate. "Don't look at me!" Adelaide laughed. "I told you she'd be in a right mood when you woke her!"

Evan gulped then steadied himself. He cleared his throat. "Excuse me, Miss Roesia... but my name is Evan... and this is my friend Addy... Adelaide Fawley..."

The woman looked Adelaide up and down with an unreadable expression. Adelaide waved awkwardly.

"And I'm Eloise!" Eloise squealed. "I'm five! How old are you?"

Roesia was quiet. Adelaide thought she didn't understand the question at first, but as it turned out she was only thinking. "Seofen hundird fourtene."

Eloise tilted her head to the side. "Huh?"

"Sounded like seven hundred something!" Evan said quickly, bouncing in excitement. Adelaide kind of wished Mary was there to witness his nerdiness. "I think she can understand us!"

Adelaide thought it was more likely a fluke, but he really enjoying chatting up the crabby painting so she thought she'd see how things played out. "Well go on, Mr. Historian! Ask the woman some questions!"

Evan thought long and hard, but lost his train of thought in all his excitement. "Addy, help—I-I can't think of anything..."

Adelaide rolled her eyes. Typical.

Eloise jumped up. "Ooo! Ooo! What's your favorite color?"

Roesia smirked. Honest to goodness, _smirked,_ then pointed at an emerald on her diadem. "Grene."

"Green?!" Eloise squealed. Roesia nodded. "My favorite is pink!"

Adelaide glanced between Eloise and the portrait. Maybe she _did_ understand them...

Adelaide moved closer. It was a long shot... but maybe... "Do you know where the Fawley family tree book is?"

Evan shot Adelaide a curious look, like when he suspected she was going to prank him.

" _Caper-cailye_ ," Roesia responded, as if this should have been obvious.

But it wasn't obvious. It was gibberish.

Utter gibberish.

"Um... Thanks..." Adelaide said. "Evan, you're up."

Evan nodded to himself. "Erm... okay... Do you—do you know any secrets?"

"' _Do you know any secrets?'_ Really, Evan?"

"It's all I could come up with!"

"Ecret?" Roesia said, raising a painted eyebrow.

Evan's face lit up. "Yes! Yes, _secrets_!" He nodded. " _Old_ secrets—nothing too bad—wouldn't want to pry—just old gossip or legends or... or stuff no one around today would care if you shared..."

Eloise giggled then 'discreetly' whispered to Adelaide. "Evvie's silly."

Adelaide nodded with the utmost sincerity. "Yes. Yes, he is, Lady Eloise."

"Shhh!" Evan hissed, flapping his hand at them.

Roesia drummed her fingers against her lap, combing through her seven hundred odd years as a painting for the juiciest bits of gossip (or so Adelaide imagined). After a moment her mouth opened in an 'ah ha!' fashion... then quickly morphed into that small sneaky smirk from before.

She cleared her throat importantly, then looked off in the distance, as if she was reading off the wall of books behind them or giving a dramatic performance of some sort.

 _"Acursien a-bouten ecret ich sely for-hilen..."_

Adelaide rolled her eyes. "Evan, this is ridiculous she—"

Evan furiously shushed her. "Let her finish!"

Roesia gave Adelaide an annoyed glare, as if to say, 'Yes, please shut up.'

"Fine... fine... let's hear the _secret_..." Adelaide grumbled.

Roesia cleared her throat once more, a little louder this time.

" _Acursien a-bouten ecret ich sely for-hilen..._  
 _Deeþ a-bouten fallynge tho bayard..._  
 _Cleuering hand ealde fayerye bi-fieten..._  
 _Dissevere space creat bereth on hand arewe..._  
 _Al-only assemblen bale discomfiten..._  
 _Cavell, Dæð, dare dominionem bannen..."_

Roesia looked rather pleased with herself once she'd finished spewing her nonsense.

Evan stared at her, open mouthed like hungry plimpy, soaking in the ancient words... or _secrets,_ allegedly _. "_ So cool _..."_

Adelaide frowned. It was much more likely that the cheeky portrait had just recited some great great great ancestors grocery list or an ode to poodles. She was about to express this fact when the doors slammed open making all three of them jump.

"Mum!" Evan yelped.

The way Mrs. Rosier stomped into the room, one might have thought they were at _her_ home. "Eloise! It's bed time!" she snapped, rather cross, hands on her hips.

Maybe wedding planning didn't go as well as she hoped?

Eloise ran to her mother, grinning and giggling. "Mummy! Mummy! Princess Addy has a picture that talks funny! Her favorite color is green just like you!"

Mrs. Rosier let out an exasperated sigh. "Evan, you haven't been talking to the portraits again, have you?"

Evan scratched the back of his neck, a bashful smile on his lips.

She shook her head, eyes closed. "It's late, we need to get going."

"Princess Addy! Come with us!" Eloise smiled, harkening Adelaide with her little hand. "I can show you my princess dolls! I have a pink one and a blue one and a green one and a—"

Evan crossed the room, mid-rainbow, stooped down beside her and took her little hands in his. "Eloise, Addy can't see your dolls tonight—"

"Why not?!"

"Because she has to have bed time at _her_ house."

" _No_!" Eloise cried, eyes quickly filling with tears, thrashing her hands in Evan's. "No! I want Princess Addy to come with us!"

Adelaide felt really bad that Eloise was so distraught... but completely out of her element. Should she charm her a duck? No... probably a duckling... Crying children definitely called for ducklings... but then again, ducklings are kind of fragile... Smooshed ducklings might make matters worse.

Mrs. Rosier was at her wits end, silently begging Evan to work his big brother magic.

"Shh... I promise you'll see her again really soon, okay?" he said gently. "We'll all have tea and biscuits and I bet if you're _really_ good..." he leaned closer, whispering. "She might show you her secret garden..."

Eloise sniffled. "Really?"

Evan nodded. "Really."

Eloise sniffled some more, glancing up at Adelaide, then back at her big brother. "Evvie, I want you to marry Princess Addy."

Adelaide choked on nothing.

A light blush rose up Evan's cheeks. "Um... Bed time, Eloise."

* * *

All evening Adelaide tossed and turned, mulling over the odd turn of events since her return home. She dreamt of Roesia Fawley shouting curses at her— Calling her a foolish pig thief, a daft pile of horse manure and other terrible things. She dreamt of the the family tree book, flapping and flying out of her reach until it melted into Roesia's portrait. She dreamt of Eloise dragging her to see princess dolls only to find that they were gnomes in tutus... but she also dreamt of Alex.

Him pretending to be a dragon. Racing through the garden. Playing catch with a toy Quaffle alongside their smiling parents...

The last one was new.

It was so simple. They were all out in a field on a sunny day, just tossing the ball. Her father stood with Alex, Adelaide with her mother. Adelaide, even after she woke, could remember her mother's laugh. It wasn't cold and cruel like she was used to, but a real, hearty, warm sort of laugh that made her smile. Cathryn laughed and showed her how to line up her throw, how to hold her arm just so...

Adelaide wasn't sure if it was a real memory or just a dream— It might have only been something she _wanted_ to be real... but it was nice while it lasted.

It was nice feeling... having a _real_ family. One without fear or secrets...

It only made her more sad in the blinking light of morning.

Even with her poor sleep, Adelaide was dressed, out of bed, and out the door by sunrise, settling for toast in place of her usual oatmeal as she hiked to her garden. Anything to avoid seeing her parents.

Once she had her spell-books all laid out on the grass and wand at the ready, she checked the mirror in her handbag.

It was burning.

She flipped it open, nearly dropping it in the process.

"Addykins! Thank Merlin!" Sirius exclaimed. "I was worried Fil found the mirror!"

Adelaide chuckled awkwardly and sat down on a patch of grass and explained how, instead, her father now thought she was a mad woman for having extended conversations with her stuffed animals.

"Well... if it's any consolation, we all knew you were mad long before this," he winked.

Adelaide rolled her eyes. "Ha ha."

"So, how was the rest of the night?"

Adelaide told him everything. Evan, Eloise, dinner, the weird painting—

"You mean the lady in the library that yells in German?"

"It's Middle English, not German, Sirius—but yes. That one."

"What the _hell_ is Middle English?" he asked.

"It's—it's a form of English they spoke a long time ago."

"So... it's old English?"

"No, no, no. Old English is older than Middle English."

Sirius looked like he had a headache. "That makes no sense."

Adelaide sighed and wordlessly waved her wand, blowing away some leaves from the spot she was going to build her greenhouse. "Point is—the one thing that could possibly help me find my family tree speaks a language no one's spoken in over five hundred bloody years."

"Well I'm sure if anyone can figure out how to translate it's you, Ads," he shrugged. "But remind me again what the big deal is with the family tree?"

Adelaide's face felt hot. Originally, she was going to find it to put the _Veela_ business to rest... But somewhere along the line her reasoning shifted (not entirely, of course, but shifted nonetheless). The more she thought about the book, about the memory of seeing it— seeing Alexanders face... the more she yearned to see that face with her own eyes, even if it was just in a book.

"I—Um... You know that memory I had? Seeing the book when I was little?"

Sirius's head went out of view as if reaching for something. "Yeah?"

Adelaide twirled her wand in her fingers producing little flickering sparks. "Well I... I-I just want to see Alex... but not in my head for once..."

Sirius hummed. "That makes sense... but you know you could also see about the Veela stuff—"

"Sirius—"

He threw his hands up, a mischievous smirk playing at his lips... like he _knew_ he was about to annoy her and thought it was entertaining. "I'm just saying you _could..._ and who knows maybe you'll find out if Flora really had that not-squib kid—"

"You mean the hypothetical moon child?" she groaned.

"We've been through this, Addy. You can't bring a baby to the moon."

"But you _can_ bring one when you're on the run from the wizard mafia?"

Sirius grinned. "Of course."

"Glad we got that cleared up," Adelaide laughed.

They continued to chatter away about important matters such as what pranks Sirius would pull on Regulus and how Adelaide could discreetly transfigure Evan's shoes into hedgehogs during a tea party, all while Sirius polished his broom and Adelaide practiced woodworking spells, whittling a practice beam for the greenhouse.

It was nearing lunchtime when Adelaide had her first greenhouse related injury. A nasty splinter on the palm of her hand. She wasn't _quite_ as adept in healing charms as Sirius was but she mended it without much trouble... But it did remind her...

"Sirius, you never told me how it went with your parents last night."

Sirius grimaced, clipping the twigs from his broom with more focus than before.

"It sucked. The end."

Adelaide rolled her eyes. "You've got to give me more than _that_. Did something happen? What'd they say when you told them about the Saint Mungo's internship?"

Sirius stood up and began rummaging through his broom polishing kit.

"Sirius... you did tell them, _right_?"

"Oh, I told them alright..." he grumbled.

Adelaide waited for him to go on, but he plopped down on the bed and began scrubbing the handle down with polish.

"Well?" She shook the mirror for added effect, even though he wasn't even looking at her. "How'd it go?"

He frowned and scrubbed a little more vigorously... stubbornly refusing to answer.

"Sirius, what happened? Did they not sign the permission form? Were they upset?"

Sirius's expression changed. He looked like he was going to be sick. "Worse."

Adelaide frowned. What could be worse?

Sirius put down his rag. "They said they were _proud_ of me, Addy."

Adelaide blinked. "Oh..." Of course that would be a worse case scenario for Sirius. "Does that mean they signed it?"

His hands raked through his curls. "Yeah... I mean... I'm pretty sure—"

" _Pretty_ sure? You don't remember?"

"I think I blacked out for a moment when my father started talking about what a _respectable_ job it was—Thank Merlin Regulus's was there—he started blabbing about that ruddy pigeon of his before he could get too far in his speech."

Adelaide watched him pick up the clippers again. "Well... I mean... could have been worse..."

"Addy, my father said he was bloody _proud_ of me. What the hell could be worse than _that_?"

"They could have been upset... they could have refused to sign the form—your mum could have—she could have _hurt_ you again..."

Sirius suddenly became enamored with trimming his broom twigs once more.

Adelaide took a breath. "Well if it makes you feel any better I'm sure they won't be thrilled when they find out you're learning how to patch up werewolves."

Sirius rolled his eyes but the corners of his mouth were twitching upwards, a smile fighting against his brooding. "You make an excellent point there, Addykins..."

Adelaide grinned. "That's because I'm brilliant."

"Again, this is very true," Sirius laughed. "Which is why I think you're uniquely suited to decode that grumpy paintings not-old English and see your brother."

Now it was Adelaide's turn to roll her eyes. "You're just trying to change the subject."

"Doesn't make it less true," he shrugged, smirking. "Plus I'm just _dying_ for you to realize, once and for all, that you're part Veela—"

"UGH! For the last bloody time—I am not a damn Vee—"

"Adelaide?!" A voice called from near the garden entrance.

Her mother.

"Shit!" Adelaide hissed. "Shit, shit, shit—I have to go—"

"Was that your mum? Are you okay?!" Sirius asked.

"I'm fine—I love you—I'll talk to you later—"

"Adelaide, I'd like to speak with you!" her mother called, closer now.

Adelaide snapped the mirror closed and just managed to shove it in her pocket before her mother came hiking up the path towards her.

Unfortunately, she did not have time to hide the construction spell books and greenhouse sketches she'd laid out.

Cathryn's eyes took in the scene, not with scorn, but something else Adelaide couldn't quite place.

"Lunch is ready," Cathryn announced. "You'll need to pack up your little project here—we're all going to London after."

" _London_? What for?" Adelaide asked, not liking the idea that her greenhouse building was being interrupted.

Cathryn gave a long anguished sigh, as if I pained her to say what she did next. "We're going to visit your aunt's shop."

* * *

NOTE*

 _*Middle English was a form of the English language spoken after the Norman conquest until the late 15th century. English underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English period._


	107. 107

**107 We Need to Talk**  


It is a well known fact for anyone who has spent any great amount of time in the Wizarding parts of London, that Diagon Alley is at its absolute busiest after lunch but before tea. Owls screeched, coins jingled, caldrons clanged. It smelled of sweat, new broomsticks, buttery sweets from the peddlers, and perfume due to an overly friendly shop associate down at _Madam Primpernelle's Beautifying Potions_. People shouted to be heard, shoes scuffling across the cobbled pavement, mulling their way towards this shop and that, bumbling into each other as they did so.

It was just the sort of chaos Sirius would have revelled in. Unfortunately, Sirius was not there. And while the wild current of patrons might have energized _him_ , it had the opposite effect on poor Adelaide.

From the moment she stepped foot out of the floo and into the street with her parents, she felt overwhelmed by the loudness, the business, the... _muchness_ of it all and wanted nothing more than to run back to the safe, calm, serene quiet of her garden... And had it not been for Flora, or rather the promise of _seeing_ Flora, she might have turned tail and done just that.

Filip led the way, his tall stature and blonde hair a beacon in the crowd. Adelaide followed behind, playing the role of the dutiful daughter.

He broke through the crowd and stopped in front of a rather busy shop (right beside _Florean Fortescue's Ice-Cream Parlour_ , Adelaide noted). It had a jingly yellow door, yellow paint on the trimmings and windows, and an elegant snowy owl perched itself upon a swinging sign that simply read: " _Floraison Boutique,_ " with painted flowers blooming between the lettering.

It was a very popular store.

Witches young and old were going in and out, mingling and smiling— ooing and awing, some with big shopping bags clutched in their fashionable fingers.

Mr. Fawley cleared his throat and shared a quiet look with his wife, wordlessly conveying some hidden meaning between them before turning his cool blue eyes to Adelaide. "Right then. I've been informed that absolutely _none_ of your dresses will do for the gala next week—" he flashed a sly look at his wife/ informant. "You are to find a suitable ensemble for the event this afternoon so that Flora will have time to make alterations if needed."

An eager witch nearly knocked Adelaide over with a large shopping bag, but Adelaide couldn't have cared less, smiling wide. She was getting to shop at Flora's shop!

Mrs. Fawley glared at the person that nearly knocked her daughter over. "We'll be back to collect you before dinner—"

"Wait, you're not coming with me?" Adelaide asked the both of them.

"We have some business in town to attend to," Cathryn said cryptically.

If Adelaide wasn't so thrilled to have a bit of freedom, she might have wondered what sort of "business" it was that they had to "attend to", but as it was, she could hardly contain her excitement, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

Mr. Fawley looked from his wife back to Adelaide. "Flora's been quite anxious to see you again."

Cathryn sniffed imperiously.

Adelaide grinned.

* * *

Despite the masses of patrons who meandered through _Floraison Boutique,_ Flora was relatively easy to spot. Adelaide found her near the center of the room, re-folding a rifled through table of jumpers, wearing apple green robes, embroidered bellbottom trousers, and thick platform heels that added several inches to her height.

"FLORA!"

Adelaide slammed into the woman with a hug so forceful she nearly knocked them over into the jumpers, burying her face into Flora's flouncy fair hair.

Flora, after her initial shock, let out a bell-like laugh, hugging her just as fiercely in return. "Hi, Sweetie!"

Adelaide pulled away and couldn't help smiling. Everything about the shop was so incredibly ' _Flora_ '. Bright colors, quirky patterns, muggle and magic styles all seamlessly thrown together. "This place is amazing!" she beamed.

"Yeah... it really is." Flora smiled, giving the shop a quick look around. "Now, I've been informed that you need a gown?"

Adelaide nodded, cheeks beginning to hurt from smiling so wide.

"Well, let's see what we can rustle up, shall we?" Flora waved to a wizard across the shop near the trousers display. He was rather skinny, probably in his twenties, wore the same shade of apple green robes as Flora, had a gotee and long stringy red hair hidden beneath an orange oversized newsboy cap— Adelaide thought it looked like someone squashed a grapefruit on his head when he wasn't looking. "Plunkett!"

The man's head jerked up. "Yes, Ma'am!" he called back.

"I have a private fitting. I'll need to you and Hawkworth to manage the floor while I'm upstairs."

The man nodded so fiercely that his grapefruit cap nearly fell off his head. "Yes, Ma'am! Of course, Ma'am!"

"Thank you, Plunkett!" Flora smiled, waving as she whisked Adelaide to the back of the store.

Adelaide chanced a look back. Plunkett was staring after Flora, mouth agape for several seconds before shaking himself from his thoughts and scurrying off to another green apple clad witch.

"I think Plunkett's got a thing for you, Aunt Flora..." Adelaide sniggered as they approached a metal spiral staircase.

Flora laughed, walking ahead of her. "Don't be silly, Laidy Bug—" her steps faltered for a moment and Adelaide nearly bumped into her, but she quickly recovered, clearing her throat and keeping her eyes trained on the staircase as she climbed. "Right, so the event's white tie— so formal gown, obviously— I'm thinking full skirt—maybe some fluted sleeves—"

Adelaide trudged up behind, trying to make sense of Flora's fashion jargon.

When they reached the landing, Adelaide realized it was actually a loft of sorts that overlooked the shop below. The lighting was soft and much cozier than the hustle-bustle downstairs. Flora had pincushions and measuring tapes that scurried around one a work table beside several squashy benches near the rod iron railing. Along the wall were four changing stalls hidden behind fruit colored drapes with a trio of mirrors and pedestal in the center.

Flora was still speaking as she sat down on a bench. She waved her wand and conjured a clothes rack from thin air, then waved it again and set the snakey measuring tape to work on Adelaide. "—and I'm thinking blue— I know your mother _insisted_ upon the lavender for the dinner, but I still think blue would suit your skin tone more—"

Adelaide blinked as the measuring tape wound around her shoulders. Her _mother_ insisted? Adelaide had assumed Flora was the one to make the other dress lavender. Odd. "I-I don't look good in blue, Aunt Flora," she managed, swatting the measuring tape from her face.

Flora waved her off, summoning gowns from downstairs to the clothing rack— all of them varying shades of _blue_. "Nonsense. You look good in anything," she trilled, levitating a royal blue gown in front of Adelaide. "Especially blue," she smirked.

Though she still didn't agree, there was really nothing Adelaide could say to the contrary. Flora was the expert, after all.

For the next hour Adelaide pitied the dolls she used to play with—trying on dresses was exhausting. Of course, she loved Flora, and it was lovely to catch up and chat about all the mundane happenings and silly pranks that had occurred since her visit to Hogsmeade (Flora especially like the one where Sirius switched James and Snape's bodies). However, when it came to the actual gowns, they butted heads.

Adelaide frowned at the ruffled, lacy, baby blue monstrosity that engulfed her body within the mirror.

"If it's the color, we can always change that—" Flora began.

Adelaide groaned impatiently. "Color won't change the fact that I look like a giant doily."

Flora stood behind her, head tilted, blue eyes concentrated on the smattering of lace. "Fine," she said begrudgingly, summoning a sparkly midnight blue gown from the rack into Adelaide's hands. "But for the record, you make a very _cute_ doily."

Adelaide snorted and rushed to the changing room.

"I thought you _liked_ lace," Flora said on the other side of the curtain.

"I do—" Adelaide struggled to unclasp the back. "Just in moderation—The butterflies last night were cool."

Flora hummed. "How did it go at dinner? It was with one of your suitors' family, wasn't it?"

Adelaide could tell by her tone that Flora knew good and well whom she had dinner with—she just wanted some juicy details. "It was just Evan's family."

Flora hummed again. "Your mother showed me a photograph... he's rather handsome."

Adelaide, who still hadn't finished stepping out of all the stupid petticoats from the doily dress, popped her head from the changing stall, the curtain covering the rest of her body. "Evan is _just_ my friend," she said sternly. "I don't care what my mother says—I'm _not_ marrying him. I'd barf at the alter."

Flora seemed amused, putting her hands up in defense. "I was only making an observation," she laughed. "You're lucky. Most of my suitors could have easily been part troll."

Adelaide grumbled as she popped her head back into the changing stall and yanked off the rest of the dress. How could Flora be so casual about something like that? She had been in an arranged marriage as well, she should have understood how horribly un-amusing the whole situation was.

" _So_... how did it go?" Flora asked.

Adelaide sighed, stepping into the midnight blue gown. She quickly told Flora about Evan's cute little sister and their adventure to the library. "—and Evan's such a goof—he woke up Grumpy Roesia's portrait and asked her tell us some 'secrets'—whatever the hell _that_ means," she scoffed, buttoning up the back. "Then she goes on telling us this ridiculous gibberish poem."

"A _poem_?" Flora asked. Her voice sounded a little odd, but Adelaide didn't think much of it.

"Yeah—she got all smirky and told us this big long dramatic poem—or at least I _think_ that's what it was supposed to be. Honestly it could just been a grocery list for all I know," she laughed, buttoning the last button.

"You—did you tell your parents about this?"

"No, why would I?"

Flora let out a bell-like laugh, higher than usual. "Just wondered..."

Adelaide stepped out of the changing room, now fully dressed, but Flora was gazing over the balcony, mind a thousand miles away. Maybe Adelaide wasn't the only one who was exhausted? "Aunt Flora?"

Flora blinked and turned, eyes widening as she took in the dress. "Merlin's Beard..."

Adelaide frowned down at her dress, tugging at the neckline. "What? Is it bad?"

Flora shook her head, hair flouncing. "No—no it's _perfect_!"

Next thing Adelaide knew, she was being dragged by the hand to the pedestal, forced to look at herself from every angle. This was her least favorite part of clothes shopping. Even if she thought a dress was pretty on the hanger, she quickly changed her mind once she saw it on her body. There was always a flaw... sometimes it was with the dress... but more often it seemed _she_ was the problem. Her legs would be too short, her bum too big, or her tummy too squishy.

But this time all she noticed was the dress.

It was relatively simple compared to the extravagant frilly garments she'd tried on before—A deep midnight blue, nearly black ball gown with a big full skirt and sleeves that fell off her shoulders effortlessly, and sprinkled with random rhinestones to give it some sparkle.

It was beautiful (as were all the other dresses)… but more importantly this one made her _feel_ beautiful.

"I want this one," Adelaide announced, looking back at Flora.

Flora couldn't help but smirk. "Are you sure? I know how you are about _blue_ —"

"I want this one—besides—" She turned to the mirror. "It's more black than blue."

"It's definitely _blue_ ," Flora smirked again. "But if this is the one you want, we will make it happen..." Flora walked forward, taking the fabric in hand. And just like that a flash of inspiration struck like a meteorite. "Leave it here—I have an idea."

* * *

Flora said she needed time to implement her 'idea' and that Adelaide should return the day of the gala to pick up her dress for a final fitting. Adelaide hoped it wouldn't be anything too drastic, she really liked the dress the way it was. In the meantime, however, with her internship still weeks away, she was able to resume work on her greenhouse and avoid her parents.

She was still required to have artificially pleasant meals with them (her father made a point to leave work to spend lunches with them, which was a welcome relief), but during the day she was left to her own devices.

When the weather was nice she'd work for hours in the sunshine, wearing the floppy hat Madge hated. In the evenings or when it rained, she placated her curiosity by rummaging through the library for information on Middle English.

Sirius was dead set on her uncovering some crazy family secrets through the family tree and was convinced that decoding the gibberish poem would somehow help. Adelaide thought it more likely that Roesia's poem was just a ruse and that her strange short instructions for finding the family tree were outdated, but still... the idea that _maybe_ Sirius was right... that maybe there _was_ a secret to uncover was enough to fuel her research.

Unfortunately, there wasn't much on Middle English in the Fawley library, at least not in any of the books she'd flipped through thus far (though, she did locate a book on outdated insults—'Dumble' apparently meant _dumb or stupid man_. Sirius found this very amusing and used it almost exclusively when addressing Regulus—Regulus did not find this amusing).

On the other side of the mirror, when Sirius wasn't having to run off to do grueling chores that really should have been done by Kreacher instead, he spent his days doing what he did best: talking. He either read aloud whatever muggle books he'd smuggled into his floorboards or talked Adelaide's ears off with muggle mortorbike facts. Allegedly, a certain black dog snagged some muggle magazines in the subject from a trash can near his home. ("Did you know the Triumph Bonneville T120 can reach speeds of 185 kilometers per hour?! And that's _without_ any magic—imagine how fast we could get it with a couple charms—")

After a week of greenhouse building splinters, research paper cuts, and countless facts about triumphant bonnet speeds-per-killawhatever, the day of the Gala had finally arrived. Filip dropped Adelaide off at Flora's shop just after lunch on his way back to work (again, during the busiest time), while her mother helped with event preparations at Greengrass Manor.

And once again Adelaide felt a thrill being in Flora's shop and, _once again_ , Flora was quite easy to spot—She, Plunkett, and Hawkworth all wore bright tangerine robes over their outfits. Adelaide was going to rush towards and spring a hug on her favorite aunt, but stopped short when she saw that Flora was helping a flossy haired elderly woman select a corduroy jumpsuit.

Flora's blue eyes met hers across the shop and wordlessly conveyed that she'd be with Adelaide as soon as she was done helping the customer. Adelaide took this opportunity to wander around the shop, sifting through the racks of bellbottoms, peasant blouses, and ponchos.

At first glance, any of the more muggle inspired items could have passed for something an ordinary muggle like Remus's Mum would wear. But upon closer inspection each item had _something_ magical about it—whether it be the embroidered welsh green dragons wrapped around flared trousers, or the way the way the printed flowers on a peasant top would sway as if blown by an invisible breeze. This, Adelaide realized, was what set Flora's shop apart from Madam Malkin's or evening the upscale Twilfitt and Tatting's—The fact that she could make almost anything feel special.

Adelaide was inspecting a simple blue mini skirt that Marlene would have _loved_ , when a familiar voice squealed at the door way.

"—Mummy! Look! princess dresses!"

Adelaide turned on her heal. Little Eloise dressed in a baby pink frock, was attempting to drag an exhausted Aquila Rosier from the door to the back wall, big blue-green eyes dead set on the formal gowns on display—one of which being the hideous doily dress that still haunted Adelaide's nightmares.

"Eloise," Mrs. Rosier said, bringing her to stop half way.

"Mummy! _Please_?!" Eloise begged.

Mrs. Rosier's arms were full of shopping bags, but she managed to stoop down to Eloise's level, much like how Evan had the week before, speaking in that same low, calming voice he used. "Darling, this shop doesn't make dresses for _little_ ladies."

Eloise's eyes grew wide and heartbreaking, glancing back at the wall of formal wear. "You mean they only make princess dresses for _big_ ladies?"

Adelaide let out a loud laugh before she could stop herself, then felt her face flush.

"PRINCESS ADDY!" Eloise cried out, beaming and running towards her. She latched herself onto Adelaide's leg like a bowtruckle to a wiggentree.

Mrs. Rosier apologized profusely for her daughters ill manners but Adelaide assured her it was fine.

"Are your parents here?" Mrs. Rosier asked, eyes flirting around the shop.

Adelaide shook her head. "No, I'm here to see my aunt. She's fitting me for my dress this evening."

It took a moment, but remembrance flashed in Aquila's eyes. "Flora... of course—well I'm sure it will be lovely—Evan will be so relieved to see you. He's been all out of sorts since he's been back."

"Talking to the portraits again?" Adelaide joked.

Something akin to shame darkened Mrs. Rosier's sharp features. Adelaide obviously hit a nerve, but Mrs Rosier forced a smile. "Actually, he's been rather quiet."

"Evvie's been cross," Eloise pouted, eyes looking longingly at the 'princess dresses' across the room. "He won't even have tea parties with me."

The mental image of Mr. prefect Evan Rosier, the boy who's right hook nearly knocked Mulciber unconscious, having a tea party with his little sister and her rainbow of dolls nearly made Adelaide giggle... but this was quickly squashed with worry. Was he 'cross' and 'out of sorts' because of his fight with Mary? Or was he still upset about Mulciber? Or was it something else entirely?

"Mummy, I want a dress..." Eloise said, yanking on her mother's robes. "Please ask them to make a little lady dress!"

Again, Mrs. Rosier looked worn out. "Eloise, it doesn't work like that—"

Eloise's eyes filled with tears. "But I _really_ want a princess dress! I want to look pretty like Princess Addy!"

Adelaide's face felt hot.

"So sorry about that," said a voice from behind. Flora hugged Adelaide round the side, smiling until she saw the distraught five year old crying on the floor in front of her. "Oh, dear."

Once again, Mrs. Rosier began apologizing. "—I'm terribly sorry—I've explained to her that you don't make the dresses in her size but she—"

"Aunt Flora," Adelaide said, cutting Mrs. Rosier off while Eloise sniffled ungracefully on the floor. "Lady Eloise is in need of a princess gown..."

Eloise looked up with her pink nose and big eyes darting from Adelaide to Flora. Mrs. Rosier was confused.

"You see," Adelaide continued. "We're having a princess tea party with her big brother, Sir Evvie, soon—but obviously we can't make any plans until we know for certain Lady Eloise has a dress to wear."

Mrs. Rosier hid a smile behind her hand.

Flora nodded knowingly. "Yes, yes of course. Well I'm sure we can find _something_ in her size..." She winked at Eloise, cracking a small smile.

Eloise stood up. "You mean I get a princess dress?"

Flora smiled fully as she nodded and Eloise squealed, pulling Flora by the hand to the dresses.

Adelaide was ready to run after then, but Mrs Rosier touched her arm, gently holding her back. "That was a very nice thing you did for her."

Adelaide shrugged, fingers fiddling with her sleeves. "It was nothing—Flora's the one whose going to have to do all the work," she laughed awkwardly.

"It was something for Eloise," Mrs. Rosier said tenderly. "You're good with her... you and Evan both... you'll both make very good parents one day."

Once again Adelaide's face felt hot and her stomach made an unpleasant churn. She was fourteen. She didn't want to think about being anyone's parent. "Um... thank you, Mrs. Rosier."

* * *

Eloise didn't waste much time picking out her dress, and after it had been shrunken down and altered with a few flicks of Flora's wand, Eloise left the shop looking like a proper princess of ever there were one.

Flora was smirking rather like Roesia Fawley when she led Adelaide up to the shop loft. Adelaide could tell Flora was biting at the bit to tease her about her lovely potential in-laws.

"Stop making that face," Adelaide grumbled.

Flora laughed. "Am I making a face?"

"I'm not marrying Evan."

Flora laughed again, this time more out of surprise. "Who said anything about _that_?"

Adelaide loved her aunt. She was the only real family member she felt she could connect with and trust... but she couldn't stand her blithe smiles and tinkling laughs when it came to the archaic situation Adelaide was being forced into. It gnawed at her heart had her itching to lash out and make her injustice recognized, not made light of. "Your face did!" she snapped, stomping up the stairs like a toddler. "But I don't care what you or Mrs. Rosier or my parents say—I'm _not_ going to marry him!"

Adelaide felt a flush of guilt for speaking to Flora that way. She may have been irritating, but she didn't deserve to be disrespected but Adelaide couldn't bring herself to apologize when she was still so upset... which only made her feel more guilty.

Flora was quiet. The metal stairs squeaked and their footsteps made muffled thunks against the wood floors on their way to the benches.

Adelaide sat. Scowling down at her shoes.

Flora sat beside her.

"I'm sorry," Flora said in a soft voice.

Adelaide still forced herself to scowl, shoving her bubbling guilt down to her stomach.

"I'm afraid I forget how difficult it can be... being in your... _situation_ ," Flora continued. "It's a terrible thing to feel so out of control of your own life. To feel like you don't have any voice in your own story. When I was your age I struggled, but not the way you do. I didn't know there was anything I could do but accept it... But you— Laid— _Adelaide..._ I think you're a lot stronger than I was. You know what you want and you fight for it... You're a lot more courageous than I was... and sometimes bravery hurts more than acceptance."

Adelaide didn't know if she agreed with Flora. She didn't feel strong or particularly courageous or like she knew what she wanted. She just knew she _didn't_ _want_ to do something just because someone _else_ thought it was a good idea. If that made her _brave_ then so be it.

"I'm sorry I snapped at you," she mumbled, still looking at her shoes, face still feeling hot.

Flora leaned towards her and Adelaide couldn't help flinching. Flora paused then carefully pulled her into a warm hug. "I love you, Laidy Bug."

It took a moment, but when Adelaide hugged back if felt as if a great burden had slipped off her chest.

Flora pulled back, all blue eyes and sad smiles and Adelaide knew all was forgiven. "Alright, enough blabbering—" Flora said with a little laugh. "It's time for you to see the dress."

* * *

Sirius really hated galas.

They were stuffy and loud and crowded—but he didn't much mind that part. And if he was honest, he didn't even really mind dressing up if it weren't for the fact that his parents _made_ him dress up.

The problem really came down to the 'why' behind the events.

Of course, each party had some flimsy cause to justify their extravagance—this time it was a unicorn sanctuary, or so his Dumble of a brother informed him. But anyone with half a brain could tell you the _real_ point of the party—the 'why'—had nothing to do with unicorns. They said that the events were open to all manner of prominent figures in Wizarding society, but in realty it was just an excuse for every social climbing pureblood in the nation to come together and congratulate themselves on their superior inbreeding and listen to other likeminded bigots reinforce the deplorable, ancient values they clung to so dearly.

He hated being there.

He hated the people. He hated the why. But he especially hated the thought that anyone could lump _him_ in with _them._

The one singular redeeming quality of such events (besides the eclairs which were to die for) was that he got to see Adelaide. For her, and her _alone_ , he would endure the torture that was the gala. For her, he'd do anything.

"I think I saw your mate Rosier down by the desserts table," Sirius said through a mouth full of chocolate eclair, checking the front entrance for Adelaide... again

Regulus hummed, eyes scolding his brothers bad manners.

Sirius grinned, chocolate in his teeth, and raised the other half of his eclair to Regulus. Regulus declined.

Sirius took another bite. "What's with you?"

"I'm not hungry."

Sirius shook his head. "I wasn't talking about that—you've been all weird since we got here. If you're embarrassed to be around a blood traitor I can stand some place else."

He didn't say it to be mean or because he was hurt. Adelaide would be there soon and they'd probably ditch him anyways. But he was genuinely curious why Regulus was so... _off_. He'd been jumpy and sulking and brooding ever since they set foot in Greengrass manor... more so than usual, anyway. He was going to wait for Adelaide to show up and prod for answers herself, but enough was enough. There could only be one brooding Black per Pureblood function.

"I don't care where you stand," Regulus said, impassive.

"Well now I _know_ something's up—that was the perfect opportunity for you to insult me and you passed it over like mutton in the great hall."

Regulus rolled his eyes.

Across the room, past the dance floor, Sirius spied Evan again—he was chatting with Cleo Greengrass and looked desperately like he wanted to be anywhere else. Maybe he could help him figure out what was going on? "There's Rosier—OI! ROS—"

Regulus swatted Sirius, nearly knocking they eclair out of his hands. "Stop it!" he hissed.

Finally some emotion.

" _You_ stop it, you spazzy git!" Sirius complained, pushing him away and jabbing him with an elbow for good measure. "What's your problem? I thought you were mates?"

"We are—I just—" Regulus took a deep breath to compose himself. "I just don't want to talk to him right now."

"Why?"

"Doesn't matter."

"Kind of matters—you're acting like a tosser. Nearly murdered my eclair—"

"Oh do get over yourself."

"Is this about Mary?" Sirius asked, taking another bite.

Regulus's eyes flashed—it was the same look he made when their parents started screaming. "Wha—why— _what_?"

"Ma-ry," Sirius said slowly as if Regulus really was a 'dumble'. "Mary McDonald... Gryffindor—Quidditch obsessed—slightly scary—"

"I know who she is!" Regulus snapped, straightening his lapel, breath heavier. "I just don't understand what she has to do with—with anything."

"Well her and Evan got in that big fight right before the train I thought maybe—"

" _What_?"

"The fight?" Sirius took one last bite his eclair and dusted off his hands. "I thought Evan would have told you about it?"

Regulus made a face at his brother speaking with his mouth full. "What were they fighting about?"

"About Mulciber—I think," Sirius shrugged. "Mary was really upset with Ev—Addy said she called him an baboonish mountain troll."

 _Now_ , Sirius had gained his brothers attention. "What about Mulciber were they fighting about... specifically?"

"Why don't you ask Evan? He'd know better than me..."

Regulus ran his hand through his hair in frustration. "Can you please not be a pain in the arse for once in your life?"

So dramatic, Sirius thought. "Look, all I know is he was upset—she was _really_ upset— and he's been vowing revenge on Mulciber ever since."

Regulus didn't respond. He took up staring at a random point on the wall. More brooding.

"Are you going to be like this all night?" Sirius asked.

"Like what all night?"

"Brooding. Angsty. Generally irritating—"

"You're one to talk." Regulus scoffed. "And why do you care anyways?"

"Because you're my shitty little brother."

Regulus rolled his eyes. "You just want someone to entertain you until you can run off and snog Addy."

"The two aren't mutually exclusive, young wizard," Sirius smirked.

Regulus shoved him, lip twitching into something resembling a smile. But the almost-smile quickly fell, eyes widening as he gazed across the room.

For a moment, though he would never admit it, Sirius panicked. For a moment he feared Regulus had spied a certain dark haired, well dressed, crimson eyed evil wizard. Sirius was brash and brave, but he wasn't stupid. Tom Riddle—the Dark Lord—Voldemort—Whatever his name was these days—was _not_ someone he wanted to encounter.

But as he eyes followed Regulus's wide eyed gaze with dread, he gulped and panicked for an entirely different reason.

It was at this moment Sirius was one-hundred percent convinced his girlfriend had Veela blood (he had only been ninety-eight percent sure before this point).

Long, pale blonde hair cascaded down her back, framing her pretty face (though a little stubborn lock fell into her eyes, per usual), and her dress was glittering... glowing... deep blue sprinkled with points of light like stars in the night sky. Normally he wasn't a huge fan of the big fluffy obnoxious ball gowns, but this one managed to hug her body in all the right places. Also her lips were _red_.

It wasn't until she got closer that he realized that the sparkles on her dress really did _glow..._ and really _were_ stars, or at least were in the same places stars would be in the sky—he even saw a shooting star zoom past the milky way. He imagined, if he looked hard enough, he might even see a teeny-tiny space wizard on the moon.

Something jabbed him in the ribs and he was dimly aware that his brother was laughing. He shoved him on instinct, eyes not leaving Adelaide's pretty face—she wasn't looking at him.

He had to get her to look at him.

His arm, entirely of its own volition, awkwardly flailed itself into a wave.

Her elegant neck turned and then she was smiling at him... and he felt like the luckiest guy in the world.

With another jab to the ribs, he came to semi-consciousness blinking and feeling hot as she approached him. He was covered in eclair crumbs.

"Sirius, you alright?" she asked, now looking worried, which made perfect sense, because he was frantically dusting off his pretentious dress robes with his stupid sweaty hands like an effing idiot. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he remembered that she was his best friend and loved him and couldn't care less what he looked like or if he had crumbs on his robes. But he really wanted to impress her.

"Sirius?" she asked again. Her hand landed on his forearm and sent a jolt though his spine and he could see her collarbone and soft skin where the constellation dress sleeves fell off her shoulders. She smelled like lavender and vanilla. Her lips were so freaking _red_.

"Is he alright?" she asked Regulus.

Sirius could hear the smirk in Regulus's voice as he said, "He was a moment ago..."

Shit. Shit shit shit.

Words. He needed to say words. Words and sentences. But his chest felt tight, his back tingled and his tongue felt foreign in his mouth. He hadn't felt this speechless and stupid since before they were dating.

Merlin, she was still staring at him.

Shit. Shit. Shit. "Shit."

Adelaide blinked. "Excuse me?"

Shit.

"I Uh... you..." Shit. "Wow."

Shit.

She blinked again. Then she blushed which was really cute. Then she smiled shyly which was even cuter. She was so cute he wanted to squeeze her. And because he had no impulse control, he did.

* * *

Adelaide didn't get why Sirius was acting so odd. He'd seen her dressed up enough times before this, surely he'd be used to it by now—But she was very happy when he hugged her.

"I missed you," she said into his chest. Of course, she'd seen him plenty of times through the mirror, but you couldn't _hug_ someone through an enchanted mirror. You couldn't feel safe and warm and cocooned in their arms while you listened their their heart beat and breathed in their smell. She missed being with him in person, even if it had only been a week.

He found his voice and murmured, "I love you," before pulling away... which had her furiously blushing all over again.

Regulus smirked and she wanted to smack him—thankfully Sirius beat her to it.

"Shut up," Sirius grumbled shoving him once again.

Regulus laughed. "I didn't say anything."

"You know, I liked you better when you were brooding."

Sirius's hand slipped into hers without either of them thinking much of it, as her attention went to Regulus once again. "Brooding?" she said.

Regulus wasn't laughing anymore.

"Did something happened?" she asked, when no one said anything.

"Yeah—he nearly murdered my eclair like a _lunatic—"_

"—Well maybe if you hadn't been waving down Evan like an _idiot_ I wouldn't have had to."

"Wait—Evan?" she said. "I'm confused. Are you two fighting too? Is that why he's so upset?"

Regulus huffed. "We're not fighting—I'm not upset—"

"No, _Evan_ —" she said impatiently. "I ran into his mum this afternoon and she said he'd been quiet."

"Probably throwing a pity party about Mare—" Sirius muttered.

Fear flashed in Regulus's eyes. That, paired with how dodgy he was being about speaking to Evan made Adelaide realize Regulus knew what was going on... or at least he had a decent hunch. And whatever it was wasn't good.

"Reggie..." Adelaide said softer. "Is something wrong? Is he in trouble or—"

"Nothings wrong. He's perfectly fine. I just don't feel like talking to him at the moment," Regulus said huffily. "Or you two for that matter... have fun snogging or whatever..."

And with that proclamation, he excused himself and brooded away leaving Adelaide more befuddled than before.

"Prat," Sirius muttered. "He'll come round later—come on, they have some caramel popcorn still."

* * *

"Malfoy looks like a peacock," Adelaide sniggered, crunching through a mouth full of caramel popcorn.

"Malfoy _is_ a peacock," Sirius snorted at her side. He had become more relaxed since they hunkered down their hidden corner of judgmental desert eating than he was when she arrived. So far they had successfully avoided all other social interaction, laughing, and basking in the warm company of each others presence, tucked away on a love seat in the east corner, next to a few abandoned glasses of champaign, within sight of the desserts table for easy access.

Adelaide giggled and swatted his hand when it got too close to the caramel popcorn on her plate—he stole some grapes instead with a mischievous grin.

She kissed him on the cheek, then looked back to the ballroom, watching Lucious scold a grouchy house elf for spilling wine on his shirt. She had to admit, the room itself quite elegant. Summery flowers bloomed upon the golden shimmering centerpieces, and the chandeliers danced with levitated lanterns, floating candles, and luminescent origami butterflies. In the center of the room, just beyond the bustling dance floor, was a short golden stage, where a band played mostly classical tunes (though there were a few scandalous Celestina Warbeck hits thrown in). And there, standing on the outskirts of the dance floor, awkwardly sipping a cup of butterbeer, was Evan Rosier. Alone at last.

"Oh! There's Evan!" she said quickly, standing.

"Wait—Ads! Where are you going?"

"To talk to him!" she said as if this should have been obvious. "You're free to come with me."

Sirius looked from Evan, then to the deserts table, then back to her... then back to the desserts table. There were only two chocolate eclairs left...

Adelaide rolled her eyes, smiling. "How about you go snag the last of the eclairs and meet up with me after, yeah?"

Sirius grinned. "Sounds like a plan."

Sirius would never make it to the eclairs...

* * *

Adelaide trudged through the crowds like an Auror ready to catch a fiend—a witch on a mission. She was going to get to the bottom of whatever was going on with Evan, whether he liked it or not.

Thing was, trying to rush across a crowded room was difficult in the best of circumstances. Not only was the lighting dimmed for 'ambiance' or something equally ridiculous, but she had a gigantic skirt fluffed with a bazillion petticoats that made maneuvering a slow process. But that didn't stop her. Just as she shimmied past a large, over-perfumed woman who _might_ have been a cousin on her mother's side, and stepped onto the dance floor—Evan was gone.

Frowning with her hands on her hips, she looked around. Surely he hadn't gone _too_ far—

Someone tapped her on her bare shoulder.

"Care to dance, Fawley?"

Adelaide turned on her heel, eyes ablaze.

Standing before her was none other that the pratty weasel, Micheal Avery. He was dressed in expensive dress robes, his light brown hair slicked back and brown eyes set on her. However his usual pointy faced sneer was gone replaced with some other emotion she couldn't define... it reminded her of the soft look he gave her at the party when she hexed his wand. It made her blush.

"I'd rather eat slugs than dance with _you_ ," she snapped haughtily.

Again, he didn't sneer, he didn't even seem to register her insult as he held out a hand.

"I really must ask that you reconsider," he said in the languid Pureblood drawl, eyes flickering to the side, like he was afraid someone would attack from that direction. Valid fear considering Sirius he already broken his nose once and was only looking for an excuse to smash it in again.

Adelaide crossed her arms over her chest. "I really must ask that you leave me alone. Sirius isn't the only one who can throw a punch, you know."

Avery didn't seem impressed. "Fawley. Please just dance with me. We need to talk."

"We're talking right now... not that I'm enjoying it much—"

"I have some..." he looked around, fear glinting in his eyes, lowering his voice so much that she could hardly hear him. "I have some information... about what happened to your friend."

"What friend?"

"The one at the party."

"You mean _Mary_ —?!"

He shushed her, taking a step closer. She tried to back up but she bumped into a tall wizard chatting behind her. "Yes. But I can't talk about it here... dance floor is better. Less chance someone's listening in."

Again, he offered his hand.

Adelaide scowled at his hand. It was that hand that cast the spell that launched her into the black lake as a cat and nearly got her eaten by a Grindylow. It was that hand that grabbed her the summer before and left purple bruises on her arms for days. But then she looked up at his eyes. They were soft and they were scared, like a cornered rodent. There was a good chance this was only an excuse to get her to dance with him, but what if he _did_ know more about what happened? What if he knew why Evan was being so squirrelly?

She stared at him with the fiercest, most Cathryn-like, look she could muster. "Any funny business, Avery, and I'll hex your arse so badly they'll have to send you to Saint Mungo's to undo it. "

Avery smirked, grabbed her hand, and pulled her to the dance floor. "Always the charmer, Princess."

* * *

While Adelaide was fighting through crowds in her gorgeously impractical gown, and being imposed upon by sneaky slimy snakes promising to divulge their secrets, Sirius was on a mission of his own. Chocolate eclairs.

He marched through the crowd, elbowing past the bumbling drunks, grumbling house elves, and gaggles of chattering Pureblood's as he did so. But just as he grinned, eyes set on the the desserts table only a few feet ahead of him, he was stopped, abruptly, by a tallish girl with dirty blonde hair, in a feathery pink dress, wearing a sour expression directed squarely at him.

"Black," said Cleo Greengrass.

Sirius blinked, then tried to weasel his way around her. "Excuse me, I—"

Cleo blocked him, hands on her hips. She seemed personally offended, but he could not for the life of him understand _why_. Maybe she had him confused with his little brother?

"Black, we need to talk," she huffed, grabbing him by the arm and pulling him towards the corner of the room.

"Hey!" Sirius tried to fight her off, but she held his arm at an uncomfortable angle that made it difficult to wrench himself free. It'd be a lie to say his pride wasn't bruised by this fact . "Get off!" he complained.

Cleo ignored his protests and led them past he crowds to a quiet corridor, just off the ballroom. It was darker, and the echoey dim music from within the ballroom paired with the quiet, eerie coolness of the stone corridor made him shiver. Merlin, he hoped she wasn't about to hex him. No would ever find him this far away.

"Look, Cleo. I don't know what I did, but whatever it was, I'm really sorry—"

"Shut up," she groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose the way Remus did when he was irritable. "You didn't _do_ anything."

"Then why—"

"Ugh! Seriously, do you _ever_ stop talking?" she snapped.

Rude.

Sirius scowled at her and mentally calculated if he could whip out his wand fast enough to stun her and get away. "What do you want, Greengrass?"

"I told you—we need to talk."

"First you say I _shouldn't_ talk, now you're saying we _need_ to talk—make up your damn mind, woman—!"

Cleos hand flew up and Sirius thought she might try to hit him and took a step back, but instead she jabbed her finger towards the entry way they came through. "Do you have any idea what our parents are plotting in there?!"

"The construction of a sanctuary for elderly unicorns?"

Cleo looked like she wanted to hit him. "No, you _idiot_. They're plotting _our_ marriage."

* * *

Adelaide hoped Sirius wouldn't come back in time to see her waking to the dance floor with Avery... not because she was in anyway concerned for Avery's safety, but because she was concerned for Sirius's. Walburga wouldn't react well to a public scandal involving her son in a fist-fight at a fancy event such as this.

"You have one dance, so you better talk quick, Avery," she grumbled.

Avery's hand went to her waist as the other held hers in perfect form for a waltz. The music started and he pulled her closer.

It took everything in her not to cringe when he leaned in, breath tickling her ear. "Have I mentioned how dazzling you loo— OW!"

Adelaide stepped on his foot. "If you're not going to tell me about Mary, I'm leaving."

"Merlin, that _hurt_!"

"Good. Now speak."

That old angry scowl returned to his pointed face and Adelaide felt that things were finally going back to normal. "I'd like an apology first."

"For what?"

"For stepping on my foot!"

She shrugged as he led her into a turn. "It was an accident."

"Like _hell_ —You and I both know you're the best dancer on this floor."

Adelaide flushed at the complement without meaning to. It only made her want to step on his foot again. "Fine," she said through her teeth. "Sorry—happy now?"

Avery smirked. "Immensely."

Adelaide rolled her eyes. "Time's ticking, Mikey..."

Avery scowled at her... then slowly seemed to remember why they were there and pulled her closer once again, more cautious this time. "You know how I told you that Mulciber drugged your friend to get her to act like a slag?"

Adelaide bristled at his choice of words. "Yes."

"Well... I have reason to believe it wasn't a potion after all..."

Avery twirled her then pulled her back in. "What do you mean it wasn't a potion? You think he used a spell? A charm? A—"

"A curse," Avery said quietly. "A dark curse."

Adelaide's eyes rested on the dizzying landscape in front of her and her stomach flipped at the thought. To be poisoned was one thing, to have dark magic cast upon her best friend was another.

But Avery hardly knew Mary—why would he care what happen to her? And why would he be telling Adelaide this when Mulciber was one of his best mates?

Adelaide looked him square in the face. "Why are you telling me this?"

An internal struggle seemed to be taking place within his eyes as they dashed between hers.  
Then, quietly, eyes soft and scared once again, he said, "I have reason to believe he's used that curse before... and... and that he's planning to use it again."

"You didn't answer the question," she said, volume dropping to meet his. "Why are you telling _me_? Mulciber's you're best mate?"

"Mulciber's allegiance is only to himself, Fawley," he said impatiently.

"So are you telling me to get him in trouble or something? I still don't understand why—"

Avery's grip tightened. "I'm telling you because..." He took a deep breath, jaw tight, eyes darting away from hers. "Because he's planning to use the curse on _you_ , Fawley."

Adelaide stepped on his foot, but this time it really was an accident.

Her? He was planning to use that horrible curse on _her_?

Whatever Evan did to Mulciber would pale in comparison to how Sirius would react if such a thing happened.

Her heart raced with fear and she felt shaky despite her best attempts to remain brave.

"W-why are you telling me?" she asked, meeting his gaze. "You _hate_ me—why tell me?"

Again, his eyes had lost that cynical sharpness, peering into hers for too long to be comfortable. "I don't know."

* * *

While Adelaide was reeling from Avery's warning, Sirius vomited on Cleo Greengrass's dress.

He was mildly aware that she was shrieking, though he doubted it was for his well being. He wiped off his mouth with his sleeve, pulled out his wand and vanished the vomit with hardly a whisper.

Him. Marrying. Cleo.

The idea was so weird, so foreign, so horribly nausea inducing that he could hardly process it. Of course he'd known arranged marriages were common—hell he was on the short list with the Fawley's—but it hadn't occurred to him that _he_ could be forced to marry _another_ girl. Regulus, maybe... but him? Everyone knew Sirius was damaged goods—a blood traitor—the family disappointment. Surely she had to have him confused with his brother. That was the only logical explanation.

"I—are—are you sure?"

"I'm pretty bloody sure, Black. Unless there's another Sirius skulking around."

"Excuse me—I do not _skulk."_.

Cleo rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. "Well?"

"Well _what_?"

"Well, what are we going to do about this? I'm not ending up with _you_."

Again, rude. "Well you're no picnic yourself—besides, _I_ have a girlfriend—"

He had a girlfriend.

He had a girlfriend who was waiting for him.

How the hell was he going to explain this to her?

"What's _that_ supposed to mean, ' _You_ have a girlfriend?'" Cleo seethed. "You think I don't have the ability to find a suitor for myself?"

Sirius stared at her, baffled. Girls were so weird it made his brain hurt.

"I didn't say that! I'm sure there's plenty of blokes who'd go for an aggressive psychopath like your self, I just happen to be spoken for—"

Cleo seethed. Sirius wouldn't have been surprised if smoke came out of her ears like in the cartoons they watched in muggle studies.

"I'm sure this is all a big mistake, Greengrass," he said, backtracking to make sure he didn't get himself hexed. "Addy and I have a good thing going—her dad and I are on good terms—it's pretty much a sure thing that I'll end up with her—so you really have nothing to—"

"I _heard_ them talking in there!" Cleo snarled. "Mrs. Fawley _hates_ you."

"Well yeah, but—but she's sort of... you know..." Sirius twirled his finger to his temple, wary of using the word 'crazy' in front of a fellow crazy female. "And besides—I'm not exactly the type of bloke most parents want to marry their kids off to—I'm sure you have nothing to worry about."

Cleo was practically quaking, though he saw a mistiness in her eyes that made him suspect it wasn't just out of anger anymore.

Shit.

He hoped she wouldn't cry.

Shit.

She did.

Shit.

"Ah, Merlin... I—Uh..." Sirius stammered, highly uncomfortable and 97.4 percent sure that the eclairs were all gone by this point. He started side stepping towards the door.

"You have to h-help me!" she hiccuped. Tears were falling down her cheeks and Sirius was both surprised and unsettled that it didn't mess up her makeup like it did when Adelaide cried.

"Uh..."

Cleo sniffled, letting her blonde hair fall into her face. "Please..."

"Um... well... er... why don't you just... find someone you wouldn't mind erm... marrying... and uh... maybe that'll make your parents choice... _easier_?"

He was almost to the door—almost to freedom—when she started crying again. He would have run away, but he was reasonably certain she would have hexed him before he got too far.

"But I _can't_!" she wailed. "He won't even _look_ at me! I'm pretty! I make good marks! I'm on the bloody Quidditch team even though I _hate_ sports! And he _still_ won't ask me out!"

Sirius took another careful step backwards. "Uh... who are we talking about?"

"Avery, you dumbarse!"

Sirius tripped and fell straight onto said dumb arse. "Sorry— _what_?!" be screeched. " _That's_ the bloke you're pining over?"

Cleo glared down him by way of answer.

"Merlin, Greengrass— I get why you hate me—but _him_?" he said, standing up once again. "Avery's bad news... even for a snake lady, such as yourself."

"I don't _care_ what you think," she huffed, fixing her hair in an effort to re-gain some of her dignity. "I don't care what _anyone_ thinks. I just need you to promise you'll do whatever the hell you can to make sure my parents _don't_ pick you."

"Fine. Done. Now can I go?"

She narrowed her eyes at him for a terrifying few seconds, probably mentally flinging all sorts of curses his way, then without another word, she shooed him off like he was an annoying fly.

The first thing Sirius did upon re-entering the gala was check desserts table. As expected, it was void of all eclairs. Second thing he did was try to track down Evan and Adelaide.

* * *

After the song was over and Avery slunk away to whatever corner he'd slithered out of, Adelaide made her way back towards the outer edges of the dance floor in a haze.

Why would mulciber attack _her_? Why would he attack _anyone_? What curse was he using? What kind of curse would force someone to behave the way Mary did?

Of course, there was _one_ dark curse that could bend someone's will in any way the caster so pleased... Her stomach churned. No. There was no way. Not _that_ curse. Not mulciber. Not at school. No. It had to be something else.

But why was Avery telling her? Why would he of all people warn her? He said he didn't know... but somehow Adelaide knew that was a lie.

Her thoughts were so muddled, so loud, she ended up bumping into someone by accident. "Oh, I'm so sorry I— _Evan?_!" She beamed up at his good natured face— finally something was going right. "Evan! _There_ you are! I've been looking for you!"

"I uh… I was looking for you, too…" Evan chuckled. He reached to scratch the back of his neck, but his hand was full of an old, tattered book— he quickly thought better, hand hanging awkwardly at his side.

"What have you got there?" she said curiously. Evan was a swot, but even he wasn't daft enough to bring a book to a fancy event like this.

Evan's eyes shifted away from hers. "It's uh… Well it's sort of the reason I was looking for you… I um… found it… thought it might be of more use to you."

As he handed her the book Adelaide could tell something was off, but figured it was just Evan being weird Evan. "Thanks," she said. She inspected the cover. It was very old, with fragile binding and faded letters upon the painted red leather, but she could just make out the title: ' _Manasés Ethelwyn_ _Digby's Middle English Dictionary.'_

She blinked up at him. It was _perfect_ … just the thing she needed… but where did it come from?

"Evan, this is great… where'd you find it?"

He shrugged, not meeting her eyes. "Just something we had laying around."

It was a lie.

She could tell he was lying. But why would he lie about where he found a book? Did he steal it? Adelaide had a difficult time imagining Evan stealing anything, even a book. Her eyes followed his jittery gaze and saw his mother and father talking to _her_ parents. Maybe it was part of their ruse to get them together? But surely there were better ways of orchestrating a conversation without making the poor lad present her with a dictionary at a party.

Nevertheless, she was grateful for the gift, however it was obtained.

"So uh… Why were you looking for me?" he asked.

Adelaide ran her thumb nervously over the book cover, stepping out of the way of a rowdy wizard pulling his equally lively lady friend to the dance floor. "I— well I wanted to see if you were alright," she said. "I saw your mum at my Aunt's shop and she said you'd been quiet…"

Evan rolled his eyes and scoffed. "My mother… of course… She thinks the world is falling apart all because I don't particularly fancy gossiping with her."

"So you're okay?" Adelaide said. That couldn't be the end of it. Eloise said he'd been cross…

"Of course, why wouldn't I be?"

"Well I just thought something had happened… I mean first Mary then Regulus was being all dodgy about talking to you tonight—"

"What?" Evan seemed genuinely confused. "Regulus is _here_?"

"I—" Shoot. She shouldn't have said anything. "I—uh… well, yeah."

"Blimey, I thought he just didn't come—I've been bored all night waiting round for him to show. Why didn't he come talk to me?"

"I was kind of hoping you'd know."

Evan scratched the back of his neck, brows furrowed. "I can't think of anything off the top of my—" He paused and his head tilted, staring off somewhere beyond Adelaide's shoulder. "What's Sirius doing with Cleo Greengrass?"

Adelaide whipped her head around so fast it made her dizzy and she had to grab onto Evan's arm for support (somewhere, Mrs. Rosier was probably rejoicing). Sirius was walking out of the far door to the party, fiddling with his hair and straightening his robes, followed soon after by Cleo Greengrass, righting her pretty pink dress and trying to fix her mussed up hair.

Her heart dropped. No. Surely it wasn't what it looked like. Sirius would never… But doubt whispered in her ear… What if it was _exactly_ what it looked like? She'd soon have her answer because after a quick glance at the empty desserts table he was headed straight towards them.

Her pulse raced in her ears and her hands felt hot.

No, she told herself, she couldn't jump to conclusions. She trusted Sirius. It had to be a misunderstanding.

When he finally weaved through the last of the crowd and approached her, she told herself that she would calmly let him explain why he had just suspiciously emerged from a dark corner with a pretty girl and—

"What the bloody hell were you doing with _her_?!" Evan demanded, pointing at Cleo across the room.

Adelaide wasn't expecting that. Apparently, neither was Sirius.

Sirius blinked, guiltily. "W-what?"

"Cleo! We both just saw you slipping out of a dark room— what were you doing with her?"

Sirius blinked again and his eyes widened, glancing back the way he came before looking back at Adelaide in horror. "I—I um…"

"Evan," Adelaide said slowly, like she was speaking to an angry animal. "Calm down, I'm sure Sirius has an excellent reason— _right_ , _Sirius_?"

Adelaide stared right into Sirius's eyes, patiently waiting, until finally he said in a breathless rush, "My parents are trying to make me marry Cleo."

Adelaide dropped the book in her hands. "Wait— _what_?"

Sirius, now rather green and a little sweaty, quickly told them both the whole strange and dramatic story. By time he was finished Adelaide was surprised Cleo hadn't emerged from the corridor the proud owner of a charmed duck.

"So... you _didn't_ snog her?" Adelaide clarified.

Sirius looked even greener. " _NO_! What the hell, Addy?"

"Obviously I didn't think you did… I just had to ask…" she said.

"I did…" Evan said. "Don't look at me like that— you have to admit it was suspicious."

"You really think I'd snog _Cleo_?" Sirius said, incredulously to Evan. "When I have _Addy_ as my girlfriend? You really _are_ mad— no wonder Regulus doesn't want to talk to you."

There was a sting of hurt on Evan's face. "Um… I think I'm— I think I'm going to go catch up with my dad… I'll see you around…"

"Wait, Evan!" Adelaide said. "Evan, you don't have to go—"

But it was too late. He was gone. And she was left with even more questions than before.

She turned back at Sirius. She couldn't tell if he was nauseous or angry or ashamed. Probably all three. "Did you really throw up on her when she told you?" she asked.

"Yep. Projectile vom. She had chunks of chocolate eclair all in those stupid feathers."

Adelaide couldn't help snorting a laugh.

Sirius ran a hand through his hair. "I'm sorry, Ads— I didn't mean to run Evan off— I just—"

"No… No, I get it… I'd be worked up if someone accused me of snogging a Slytherin too."

Sirius still looked guilty. "Um… So how'd it go before I got here? And what's with the book?"

Adelaide fumbled with the book in her hands, remembering that she still had to tell him what happened with Avery. She peered around, she didn't see Avery, but on the off chance he was within punching distance, she led Sirius back to the loveseat in the corner.

* * *

Adelaide began by explaining her odd conversation with Rosier and his weird gift. Once she was finished Sirius felt like more of a prat for pointing out that Reg was ignoring him, and almost excited that she might be able to translate some of grumpy Roesia's gibberish.

But the excitement was short lived. He nearly lost it when she told him that she'd danced with Avery… _willingly_. The thought of that bastard getting anywhere close to her had him feeling murderous, which was probably why she lured him away to the love seat and shoved a cupcake in his hands. It was difficult to punch someone while holding a cupcake. Not impossible. But difficult nonetheless.

Then she told him what Avery said… about Mulciber plotting to curse her… and the first thought in his mind (after wanting to murder Avery for making moves on his girlfriend) was that they _had_ to tell someone. Sirius, shoved the rest of the cupcake in his mouth, grabbed her hand and started pulling her towards a group of adults chatting near the entrance.

"Sirius! Sirius, what are you doing?" she asked, probably worried she was being implicated in a double Slytherin homicide.

But Sirius didn't answer… mostly because he knew if he told her his plan, she'd throw a fit and would never agree to it.

He was proved right when they got closer and she saw whom they were headed for. She started struggling against his grip. "No! Sirius! Let go of me!"

"Addy, you know I'm right."

"It'll only make things _worse_!" she complained.

 _Worse_? What could be worse than her having a humiliating dark curse cast upon her? And how could he live with himself if he knew someone was plotting something that horrible against her and did nothing about it?

She struggled the whole walk, whacking him with that stupid dictionary like a rabid kneazle, right up until they reached her parents, speaking in hushed tones amongst themselves with champaign glasses in hand.

Adelaide glared daggers at Sirius but he ignored her.

Mr. Fawley eyed him carefully with those cool calculating eyes, wordlessly demanding that Sirius explain why he was dragging his daughter against her will. Sirius didn't know how Mrs. Fawley was looking at him because he made a point to ignore her, but he imagined her face was some, more hawkish variation of her husband's.

"Mr. Fawley, we need to talk."

"Sirius," Adelaide hissed dangerously through her teeth. "Shut. Up."

Mr. Fawley raised an eyebrow. "What do you wish to speak about?"

Adelaide's hands were hot. Really hot. He was kind of worried his hand might catch on fire like her old hairbrush, but he didn't let this stop him.

"Mulciber is planning to use dark magic to attack your daughter, Sir."

Adelaide's hands never caught fire… but both of her parent's champaign glasses shattered.


End file.
